Oriel Window
The oriel window was installed inside the church of St Bartholomew the Great in the 16th century by William Bolton, allegedly so that he could spy on the monks. The symbol in the centre panel is a crossbow "bolt" passing through a "tun" (or barrel), a rebus or pun on the name of the Prior. William Camden wrote:
“It may be doubtful whether Bolton, prior of St. Bartholomew, in Smithfield, was wiser when he invented for his name a bird-bolt through his Tun, or when he built him a house upon Harrow Hill, for fear of an inundation after a great conjunction of planets in the watery triplicity".
Read more about this topic: St Bartholomew-the-Great
Famous quotes containing the word window:
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