1244. Buckler’s sketches (Pl. XV) give some idea of the charm of the

existing buildings, which are mainly of the fourteenth century. (b) _Almshouse._—The infirmary-plan became a model for some of the later almshouses. A fine example remains at Higham Ferrers (about 1423). The dimensions of this building were as follows:—Hall, 63 × 24 feet; Chapel, 17 feet, 10 inches × 20 feet. Wooden screens subdivided the dormitory; and the statutes directed that each bedeman should join in evening prayers at his chamber door. Although not so secluded as the separate-tenement type, the early arrangement was good, for inmates had the benefit of air from the spacious hall, with its fine and lofty oak ceiling. Modern examples of this cubicle-system are still seen at Wells, St. Mary’s, Chichester, and St. Giles’, Norwich. In the latter case, the dormitory forms [p115] part of a church adapted for the purpose; the compartments communicate with a corridor-hall and are open above to the panelled ceiling of St. Helen’s church with its heraldic devices. The early fifteenth-century Maison Dieu at Ripon was not unlike that of Higham Ferrers. The ruined chapel exists, with the arch which led into the domicile. By means of a partition, four men, four women and two casual guests were accommodated, and the priest had apartments at the west end. [Illustration: _PLATE XI._ ST. MARY MAGDALENE’S, GLASTONBURY (_a_) VIEW FROM THE WEST. (_b_) GROUND-PLAN] St. Saviour’s, Wells, was a contemporary foundation. Leland remarks:—“The Hospitale and the Chapelle is buildid al in lenghth under one Roofe.” This interesting old dwelling-place still exists, but has lost its former character, as has also the Glastonbury almshouse for men, of which a view and ground-plan are shown on Plate XI. Slightly different again was the plan of a two-storied block, having a chancel-like chapel with a roof of lower pitch. Sherborne almshouse (Dorset) was built thus. It opens to both stories of the adjoining domicile; this is done on the upper floor, by means of a gallery in which the women sit during service. Later, it was customary for the chapel to extend to the height of the whole building under one roof, as at Browne’s hospital, Stamford. (Fig. 5.) Although the lofty chapel corresponded in height to both stories, only the lower one—which in this case was the dormitory—communicated with it. This block formed part of a suite ranging round a quadrangle. A ground-plan and views of this imposing almshouse, with descriptions of its architectural features, are found in Wright’s history. There is a striking similarity of construction between it and [p116] Wigston’s hospital, Leicester (figured by Nichols[79]). Both were good specimens of the domestic Perpendicular style. The earlier almshouse in Leicester, called the “Newark” (afterwards known as Trinity) was a large building. Nichols’ view (1788)[80] shows a range of dwellings below, others above with dormer windows in the roof, clumsy chimneys, a bell-cote, and at one end a chancel-like extension. There must originally have been extensive buildings to accommodate the hundred poor. Leland says: “The large Almose House stondith also withyn the Quadrante of the Area of the College”; and of the church associated with it Camden says that “the greatest ornament of Leicester was demolished when the religious houses were granted to the king.” Bablake hospital, Coventry (_circa_ 1508), which was somewhat similar to the Leicester almshouse, still exists. This “Hospitall well builded for ten poore Folkes,” as Leland reports, formed a simple parallelogram; below, ambulatory, hall, dining-room, and kitchen; above, dormitories. ii. HALL WITH DETACHED CHAPEL Of a great hall with separate chapel, Dollman cites one instance, St. John’s, Northampton. Here the hospital was a parallelogram, the chapel touching it at one corner, but not communicating with it; another detached building, sometimes called the Master’s House, was probably the refectory. (Plan and details, Dollman; see also T. H. Turner, _Domestic Architecture_, Vol. III.) From the engraving (Frontispiece) it would seem that the Maison [p117] Dieu, Dover, was similarly designed; at the north-east angle is the chapel, three bays of which may still be seen. The various apartments existing in 1535 are mentioned in the Inventory.[81] “The Great Chamber called the Hoostrye” (hostelry or guest-hall) was probably the common-room and refectory, but besides trestle-tables, settle and seats, the furniture included a great bedstead and a little one; this hall contained an inner room. There were four other small bed-chambers, a _fermery_ (infirmary) with accommodation for fifteen persons, besides day-room, kitchens, etc. [Illustration: _PLATE XII._ PLAN OF THE LEPER HOSPITAL OF ST. GILES, LONDON (_a_) GATE. (_b_) CHAPEL AND PARISH CHURCH. (_c_) HOSPITAL MANSION. (_d_) POOL CLOSE. (_e_) ORCHARD. (_f_) COTTAGES. (_g_) HOUSES, ETC., OF DR. BORDOY. (_h_) GARDENS. (_i_) WALLS. (_l_) GALLOWS. THE CHURCH OF ST. GILES IN THE FIELDS (_a_) PARISH CHURCH. (_b_) HOSPITAL CHURCH. (_c_) BELL TOWER. (_d_, _e_) ALTARS. (_f_) ST. MICHAEL’S CHAPEL. (_g_) SCREEN DIVIDING CHURCHES. (_h_) WESTERN ENTRANCE.] iii. GROUP OF BUILDINGS AND CHAPEL (a) _Leper-house._—Although originally lepers had a common dormitory, the plan began to be superseded as early as the thirteenth century, when a visitation of St. Nicholas’, York, shows that each inmate had a room to himself. The rule at Ilford was that lepers should eat and sleep together “so far as their infirmity permitted.” The dormitory afterwards gave place to tenements. The Harbledown settlement in the eighteenth century is shown in Pl. II, the buildings being named by Duncombe, master and historian of the hospital. Facing the “hospital-chapel” were the “frater-house” and domestic quarters. The chantry-house by the gateway was, doubtless, the residence of the staff. (See p. 147.) The original dwellings must have been more extensive, for they sheltered a hundred lepers. The view of Sherburn (Durham) may reproduce the later mediæval design. (Fig. 21.) In some cases a cloister ran round the buildings. The statutes of St. Julian’s leper-hospital ordained “that there be no standing in the corridor (_penticio_), which extends in [p118] length before the houses of the brothers in the direction of the king’s road.” [Illustration: 21. SHERBURN HOSPITAL, NEAR DURHAM] The Winchester leper-house was quadrangular. It existed until 1788, and was drawn and described in _Vetusta Monumenta_. (Fig. 22, Pl. XXI.) A row of habitations extended east and west, parallel to them was the chapel; the master’s house connected the two; the fourth side being occupied by a common hall. Probably St. Bartholomew’s, Oxford, was of a similar character. (Pl. XXII.) The long building which remains north of the chapel has four windows above and four below, as though to accommodate the eight brethren. When dwellings ranged round an [p119] enclosure, it was usual to have a well in the centre. Such “lepers’ wells” may still be seen on the site of St. Mary Magdalene’s, Winchester, and at Lyme Regis. [Illustration: 22. PLAN OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE’S, WINCHESTER] The lepers’ chapel was almost invariably a detached building. Sherburn had a fair-sized church, which is still in use, besides two chapels, one of which communicated with the quarters of the sick (_capella interior infra domum infirmorum_). The above were large institutions; but at St. Petronilla’s, Bury St. Edmunds—which might be described as a cottage-hospital for lepers—the chapel and hall were under one roof. The projection on the right (more clearly seen in Yates’ engraving) was the [p120] refectory. The window of the chapel shown in Pl. XXVIII still exists, though the ruin is not _in situ_. (b) _Almshouse._—The modern design of almshouse, consisting of cottages each with its own fireplace and offices, developed during the fifteenth century. Thus about the year 1400, Grendon’s new charity in Exeter became known as the “Ten Cells.” It was directed by the founder at Croydon (1443) that every inmate have “a place by himsilf in the whiche he may ligge and reste.” Some of these tenement almshouses were quadrangular, whilst others consisted of a simple row of dwellings. The contemporary charities established at Ewelme and Abingdon illustrate the two variations of what was in reality the same type. The picturesque almshouse at Ewelme, dating about 1450, is shown in Pl. XVII. The founder’s intention was thus expressed in the statutes:— “We woll and ordeyne that the minister . . . and pore men have and holde a certeyn place by them self within the seyde howse of almesse, that is to sayng, a lityl howse, a celle or a chamber with a chemeney and other necessarys in the same, in the whiche any of them may by hym self ete and drynke and rest, and sum tymes among attende to contemplacion and prayoure.” The buildings (of which Dollman gives views, ground-plan, etc.) were quadrangular, consisting of sitting-rooms below, with bedrooms above. [Illustration: _PLATE XIII._ FORD’S HOSPITAL, COVENTRY] Formerly, inmates gathered round an open hearth (compare Pl. X) or in a capacious ingle-nook, like that in use at St. Giles’, Norwich. The chimney—which originally signified fireplace—is a new feature indicating a change of life. At Ludlow, for example, Hosyer’s almshouse was constructed with thirty-three chambers [p121] and in every chamber a chimney. Those at St. Cross are slender and unobtrusive, but the later erections at St. John’s, Lichfield, are oppressive in size. Of the simple row of tenements, a beautiful example remains at Abingdon. (Pl. XXVI.) It was founded by the Gild of the Holy Cross for thirteen impotent men and women. The present hospital consists of fourteen dwellings (with a central hall reconstructed in Jacobean times); the timbered cloister has recently been carefully repaired. The Spital Almshouse near Taunton, rebuilt by Abbot Beere about 1510, consists of a simple two-storied row of cottages, with a covered way in front. iv. NARROW COURTYARD Ford’s hospital at Coventry (Pl. XIII) is placed in a class by itself. This half-timbered house is a perfect gem of domestic architecture. The oaken framework, the elaborately-carved verge-boards of the gables, the varied tracery of the windows, the slender pinnacled-buttresses, alike call for admiration. Entering the doorway, a narrow court (39 × 12 feet) is reached, perhaps the most beautiful part of the building. Each dwelling communicates with the bed-chamber above, and at either end were the chapel and common hall. Dollman gives the ground-plan, etc.; Garner and Stratton’s recent work on Tudor Domestic Architecture also contains lovely plates of the western front, courtyard and rich details. v. CRUCIFORM PLAN The ground-plan of the great Savoy hospital was cruciform, which is unusual. It would appear from the [p122] following extract from Henry VII’s will, that he himself superintended the architectural design:— “We have begoune to erecte, buylde and establisshe a commune Hospital . . . and the same we entende with Godd’s grace to finish, after the maner, fourme and fashion of a plat which is devised for the same, and signed with our hande.” When completed, this was one of the most notable things of the metropolis. In 1520, some distinguished French visitors were entertained at a civic banquet. “In the afternoon, inasmuch as they desired amonge other things to see the hospital of Savoy and the king’s chapell at the monastery of Westminster, they were conueyed thither on horseback.”[82] The engraving (Pl. XIV) shows an imposing pile of buildings. * * * * * Hospital buildings were good of their kind, and the chapels were of the best that could be provided. In Leland’s eyes Burton Lazars had “a veri fair Hospital and Collegiate Chirch”; Worcester could show “an antient and fayre large Chappell of St. Oswald”; St. John’s, Bridgwater, was “a thing notable” even to that insatiable sight-seer. Of the finest examples, most have vanished. At St. Bartholomew’s the Great, Smithfield, however, a portion survives of those “honourable buildings of pity” which astonished twelfth-century onlookers; and the noble church and quadrangles of St. Cross, Winchester (Pl. VIII), show the scale upon which some were designed. The church of the Dunwich leper-house (Pl. XXVIII) was 107 feet in length. (Ground-plan, _Archæologia_, XII.) Part of the apse remains, showing a simple arcade of semicircular arches, the [p123] chancel being ornamented with intersecting arches. A treatise of Queen Mary’s time describes this church as “a great one, and a fair large one, after the old fashion . . . but now greatly decayed.”[83] [Illustration: _PLATE XIV._ SAVOY HOSPITAL, LONDON (_a_) HOSPITAL BUILDINGS (_c_) CHAPEL] The most ancient, and, from an architectural point of view, one of the most interesting chapels remaining, is that of St. Bartholomew, Rochester; the domed apse with its own arch, writes the chaplain, is rare even in the earliest Norman churches. (Ground-plan, see _Journal Arch. Assoc._, XI.) Norman work may be seen in chapels at Sherburn, Gloucester and Stourbridge, and in the fine hospital-hall at High Wycombe. Beautiful specimens of the Early English style remain at St. Bartholomew’s, Sandwich; the Domus Dei, Portsmouth; and St. Edmund’s, Gateshead. The latter chapel, built by Bishop Farnham about 1247, is still in use, for the graceful ruin drawn by Grimm (Pl. XXX) has been restored. It is described in Boyle’s _Guide to Durham_:—“The west front has a deeply-recessed central doorway, flanked by two tiers of arcades, whilst over these is an upper arcade, the alternative spaces of which are pierced by lancet lights”, etc. The chapel at Bawtry has a fine Early English window and a handsome niche at the eastern end. Among disused or misused chapels may be named St. Mary Magdalene’s, Gloucester; St. Laurence’s, Crediton; Stourbridge; Poor Priests’, Canterbury; St. Mary Magdalene’s, Durham; some, like the last-named, are beyond restoration. St. Bartholomew’s, Oxford, and St. James’, Tamworth, long desecrated or deserted, are now being restored as houses of prayer. St. Katherine’s, [p124] Exeter, has recently been given to the Church Army, for the use of the destitute poor resorting to the Labour Home. [Illustration: 23. CHAPEL OF ABBOT BEERE’S ALMSHOUSE, GLASTONBURY (For interior see Fig. 25)] Ancient chapels remain attached to almshouses in the following places:— Bawtry; Bristol (Three Kings of Cologne); Canterbury (St. John, St. Thomas); Chichester; Gloucester (St. Margaret); Honiton; Ilford; Lichfield; Oakham; Ripon (St. John Baptist, St. Mary Magdalene); Rochester; Salisbury; Sandwich; Sherborne; Sherburn; Stamford; Wimborne; Winchester (St. John’s); Glastonbury (2); Leicester (Trinity); Tiverton; Wells. Those of Wilton (St. John), Taddiport near Torrington, and Holloway near Bath, are now chapels-of-ease; that of St. John and St. James, Brackley, is used in connection with Grammar School and Parish Church; Roman Catholics worship in St. John’s, Northampton, and French Protestants use the Anglican liturgy in [p125] St. Julien’s, Southampton; the chapel of the Domus Dei, Portsmouth, is part of the Garrison Church; St. Mark’s, Bristol, is the Lord Mayor’s Chapel; St. Edmund’s, Gateshead (Holy Trinity), and St. Cross, Winchester, are Parish Churches. FOOTNOTES: [74] Chron. and Mem., 57, iii. 262–3. [75] Cal. of Documents relating to Scotland, III, p. 199. [76] The original hall stands west of the chapel, and is let as a public dining-hall. [77] J. Rouse, 1825, Pl. 76. [78] Close 16 Hen. III, m. 17. [79] Leicestershire, Vol. I, pt. ii. 495. [80] Bibliographica Top. Brit., viii. facing p. 718. [81] M. E. C. Walcott, _Arch. Cant._, VII, pp. 273–80. [82] B.M., MS. Calig. D. vii. f. 240. [83] Weever, _Funeral Mon._, ed. 1767, p. 459. [p126]