(&amt\\ Ittttiwmtg Jjta)| BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF Henrg W. Sage 1S9X ft.3.q6^g6 : !t.3..l?f//f. 3777 NA6760.H43""""'"""'"-"""^ O'lJ EngHsh houses of alms :a pictorial 3 1924 015 418 241 '« Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924015418241 Old English Houses of Alms BY THE SAME AUTHOR. The Romance of Symbolism and its Relation TO Church Ornament and Architecture. With numerous Illustrations. Foolscap Quarto, Cloth, 7/6 net. The Story of Ford Abbey from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. Profusely Illustrated. Crown Quarto, 10/6 net. IvOndon : Kranci® Griffiths. OLD ENGLISH HOUSES OF ALMS A Pictorial Record With Architectural and Historical Notes BY SIDNEY HEATH ^E^L OF London FRANCIS GRIFFITHS 34, Maiden Lane, Strand, W.C. 1910 To my Mother r- ■f ' V * i - 'V"1".I. 1' Table of Contents Page Introduction ... ... ... ... ... ... ••• 15 St. John's Hospital, Canterbury ... ... ... ••• 3^ St. Nicholas Hospital, Harbledown ... ... ... •.• 34 St. John's Hospital, Northampton ... ... ... ••• 3^ St. Mary's Hospital, Chichester ... ... ... ... 4^ St. Margaret's Hospital, Wim borne ... ... ... ... 44 The Boniface Hospital, Maidstone ... ... ... ... 46 St. Cross Hospital, Winchester ... ... ... ... ... 48 The Bede House, Higham Ferrers ... ... ... ... S3 Almshouses at Ewelme ... ... ... ... ^^ Leicester's Hospital, Warwick ... ... ... ... 60 Almshouses at Stratford-on-Avon ... ... ... ... 66 Jesus Hospital, Lyddington ... ... ... ... 68 Browne's Hospital, Stamford ... ... ... ... 70 Bablake Hospital, Coventry ... ... ... ... 72 Beere's Almshouse, Glastonbury . . ... ... ... 74 St. John's Hospital, Lichfield ... ... ... ... 76 Greenway's Almshouses, Tiverton ... ... ... ... 78 Ford's Hospital, Coventry ... ... ... ... 80 Christ's Hospital, Abingdon ... ... ... ... 84 Waldron's Almshouses, Tiverton ... ... ... ... 86 The Travellers' Rest, Rochester ... ... ... ... 88 Jesus Hospital, Rothwell ... ... ... ... 90 Whitgift's Hospital, Croydon ... ... ... ... 92 Jesus Hospital, Bray ... ... ... ... 96 St. Peter's Hospital, Bristol ... ... ... ... 98 Coningsby's Hospital, Hereford ... ... ... ... 102 Bubwith's Almshouses, Wells ... ... ... ... .104 Napper's Mite, Dorchester ... ... ... ... 106 Sackville College, East Grinstead ... ... ... ... 108 Abbott's Hospital, Guildford ... ... ... ... no Penrose Almshouses, Barnstaple . . ... ... ... 112 Aubrey Hospital, Hereford ... ... ... ... 114. TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued). Almshouses at Lyford Almshouses at Beaminster Gray's Almshouses, Taunton Almshouses at Moretonhampstead Hungerford Almshouses, Corsham Hall's Almshouses, Bradford-on-Avon Tompkin's Almshouses, Abingdon Sherburn Hospital, Durham St. John's Hospital, Heytesbury Almshouses at Milton Abbas SS. John's Hospital, Sherborne Appendix. List of Masters of Sherburn Hospital Index of Persons Page 114 .. 116 118 120 122 128 130 132 . 138 140 142 144 146 List of Illustrations PLATES. 1. Sculpture on Leper Hospital, Taunton (Frontispiece) 2. St. John's Hospital, Canterbury 3. St. Nicholas Hospital, Harbledown 4. St. John's Hospital, Northampton 5. St. Mary's Hospital, Chichester 6. St. Margaret's Hospital, Wimborne 7. The Boniface Hospital, Maidstone 8. The Beaufort Tower, St. Cross, Winchester 9. The Dining Hall, St. Cross, Winchester 10. The Bede House, Hicham Ferrers 11. Almshouses at Ewelme ... 12. Leicester's Hospital, Warwick (General View) 13. Leicester's Hospital (Staircase and Covered Ways) 14. Leicester's Hospital (Entrance and Quadrangle) 15. Almshouses at Stratford-on-Avon 16. Jesus Hospital, Lyddington 17. Browne's Hospital, Stamford ... 18. Bablake Hospital, Coventry 19. Beere's Hospital, Glastonbury 20. St. John's Hospital, Lichfield 21. Greenway's Almshouses, Tiverton 22. Ford's Hospital, Coventry 23. Christ's Hospital, Abingdon 24. Waldron's Almshouses, Tiverton 25. The Travellers' Rest, Rochester 26. Jesus Hospital, Rothwell 27. Whitgift's Hospital, Croydon ... 28. Whitgift's Hospital (Inner Court) 29. Jesus Hospital, Bray 30. St. Peter's Hospital, Bristol ... 31. St. Peter's Hospital (Chimney Piece) 32. Coningsby's Hospital, Hereford Page 33 37 41 43 45 47 49 51 55 59 61 63 65 67 69 71 73 75 77 79 83 85 87 89 91 93 95 97 99 lOI 103 LIST OF ILLVSTRATIO^S— (continued). PLATES. 33. BuBwiTH's Almshouse, Wells 34. Napper's Mite, Dorchester 35. Sackville College, East Grinstead 36. Abbott's Hospital, Guildford ... 37. Penrose Almshouses, Barnstaple 38. Aubrey Hospital, Hereford 39. Almshouses at Beaminster 40. Gray's Almshouses, Taunton 41. Almshouses at Moretonhamp stead 42. Hungerford Almshouses, Corsham 43. Hungerford Almshouses (North Side) 44. Hall's Almshouses, Bradford-on-Avon 45. Tompkin's Almshouses, Abingdon 46. Sherburn Hospital, Durham 47. St. John's Hospital, Heytesbury 48. Almshouses at Milton Abbas ... 49. SS. John's Hospital, Sherborne (New Wing) ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT Sculpture on Leper Hospital, Taunton Almshouses AT Lyford ... St. John's Hospital, Cirencester Almshouses AT Chipping Campden Panelling at St. John's Hospital, Northampton Handles at St. Cross Hospital, Winchester Hungerford Almshouses, Corsham (General View) Page . 105 . 107 . 109 III • "3 • 115 • 117 . 119 . 121 • 123 . 127 . 129 • 131 • 135 • 139 . 141 • 143 6 15 29 36 40 53 122 PLANS. St. Cross Hospital, Winchester. Almshouses at Ewelme ... Browne's Hospital, Stamford ... Ford's Hospital, Coventry Facing Page Facing Page Facing Page Facing Page 5^- 70 80 Preface Some few years ago the author and illustrator of this volume began to make a series of drawings of old English almshouses and hospitals, a subject that had hitherto been much neglected. With the exception of some half-dozen examples, delineated and described in Dollman's Ancient Domestic Architecture (1858), one or two mono- graphs devoted to single foundations, and an occasional paper in the published Transactions of our numerous Archaeological Societies, the searcher after information relating to these interesting institutions, has had to rely on two very diversified classes of publications — the voluminous reports of the last Charity Commission (1813-27) ; and the local directory and guide book, wherein almshouses are generally dismissed in a few lines, and no illustration given. Dugdale's and Oliver's Monasticons contain a good deal of reliable information on the hospitals and kindred institutions attached to, or connected with religious houses, as also do such standard works as Hoare's Wiltshire, Hasted's Kent, Dugdale's Warwickshire, and Hutchins' Dorset, while the recently published Victoria County Histories give a good deal of interesting information that was unknown to exist in the days of the earlier county historians. The author can rightly claim that, with the exception of DoUman, who dealt with some six or seven examples only, no series of drawings devoted entirely to almshouses and hospitals had been published, until those done by him, meeting with the approval of the Editor of The Builder, began, on July 11, 1908, to appear in the pages of that journal. These drawings, supplemented by a few plans, and with additional letterpress, are here gathered together in book form. The original idea was to give, in the form of an Introduction, a fairly full account of these old foundations from their first institution. This has been rendered unnecessary by the recent (Sep. 1909) publication of Miss Rotha Mary Clay's excellent and well-nigh exhaustive volume on English Mediaeval Hospitals, a work which, although mainly confined to the purely historical and archasological side of the subject, has necessitated a revision of the author's original scheme in so far as regards the earlier history of these foundations. Miss Clay, keeping strictly within her title, deals with the mediaeval examples only, that is to the year 1541, up to which time these charitable institutions were almost without exception, ecclesiastical i n foundation, endowment, and administration, and essentially so with regard to planning and architecture. The reproduction of a kind PREFACE— continued. of isolated monastic infirmary, as found among other places at St. Mary's Hospital, Chichester, helped to confirm and perpetuate for many generations, the semi-ecclesiastical plan, and the purely ecclesiastical character of windows, doorways, and architectural details. Interesting as are these early types to the ecclesiologist and the antiquary, it is mainly the 1,5th, i6th, and 17th century examples that have most to offer the modern architect, and the lover of the picturesque element in building. To the pious merchant and the benevolent noble of the i6th, 17th, and i8th centuries we owe some of the most beautiful portions of our parish churches, some of the finest specimens of domestic architecture we possess, and some of the most delightful sets of almshouses in the country, and of these last many interesting examples remain of every period. An immense number, of course, have vanished, even in recent years, some few have been allowed to go to ruin; while others, originally of ancient foundation, were largely if not entirely rebuilt in Tudor, Jacobean, or Georgian days. The examples selected for the purposes of illustration have been chosen more for their architectural or picturesque qualities than for any purely archaeological or historical interest they may possess, although their claims in the latter respect have not been entirely neglected. The author does not claim for this volume that it is exhaustive either with regard to letterpress or illustrations, but he ventures to suggest that it will be found to be fairly representative of almshouse and hospital exterior architecture, from the founding of St. John's Hospital, Canterbury, about the year 1084, to the building of the new wing at St. John's Hospital at Sherborne in 1866. With two exceptions, St. Peter's Hospital, Bristol (originally a private residence), and Jesus Hospital, or the Bede-house, Lyddington (first erected as a palace for the Bishops of Lincoln), the whole of the foundations dealt with in the following pages were erected as almshouses or as hospitals. The author wishes to take this opportunity of thanking the Masters of these old houses of alms, and his numerous correspondents, who have so readily furnished him with any information in their possession, particularly Mr. Jethro Cossins, the well- known architect and antiquary of Birmingham, and Mr. Herbert Batsford, of the eminent publishing firm of that name. 12 VRE¥ ACE— continued. In a special manner are his thanks due to the Editor of The Builder for permission to issue this volume of illustrations after a shorter interval than is usual. All the descriptive notes that accompany each drawing have been carefully revised, and have, in many instances, received large additions. The principal authorities consulted, apart from local guide books and monographs too numerous to mention, were the great Monasticons of Tanner, Dugdale, and Oliver; Dollman's Ancient Domestic Architecture; the Dictionary of National Biography ; the old county histories of Dugdale^ Hoare, Hutchins, Hasted, etc. ; the new Victoria County Histories ; Fry's Guide to the London Charities ; the published Reports of the last Charity Commission; the Transactions of our numerous county and other Archaeological Societies ; and last, but by no means least, Miss Rotha Mary Clay's Medieval Hospitals of England, to which attention has already been called. In conclusion the author would ask his readers' indulgence with regard to the dates given in the following pages. Except in a comparatively few instances, where definite dates figure on the buildings themselves, or are given in some contemporary document, it is impossible to be immaculate in chronology. This being so the reader is asked to remember that, in the majority of cases, the dates given throughout this volume are approximate only. Upwey, Dorset. August, 1 910. '3 Mmshoir^es ci/ L//ord B^rKs INTRODUCTION The remarkable outflow of benevolence that marked the earliest days of Christianity led almost immediately to a care for the poor, especially in times of sickness or distress. From early times also the funds of the Church were applied to the maintenance of widows and orphans, sick and poor, and it was the especial duty of deacons and deaconesses to wait on the sick in their homes. Public hospitals for the reception of the sick, infirm, old, and needy, began to be erected as soon as Christianity, freed from persecution, could give material expression to its charitable impulses with impunity. Houses were set apart for the reception of lepers, travellers, pilgrims, destitute people, foundlings, and the aged. It is not necessary for us to go through the long list of such charitable institutions, erected for the benefit of the less fortunate members of the community under the auspices of the Church from their first appearance in Christendom, but by the so- called Arabic canons of Nicsea, the bishop was expressly bound, in virtue of his office, to institute hospitals. Canon 70 prescribes that in every city a place should be set IS Old English Houses of Alms apart for strangers, sick and poor, which should be called a xenodochium, and that the bishop should select one of the monks of the desert, himself a foreigner, far from home and family, and a man of integrity, to take charge of the hospital, to procure for it beds, and whatever may be necessary for the sick and poor ; and that if the property of the hospital should be inadequate, he should make a collection from the Christians, according to their several means, and with this provision sustain the brethren who are strangers, poor, or sick, as each may have need. The earliest hospitals belonged naturally to the Eastern Church, but the Western Christians were not long in following in the footsteps of their Eastern contemporaries. Rome itself quickly gained notoriety for its care of the sick and poor, and its hospitals were often the objects of Papal munificence. With this example before them the Christians of Gaul and Italy erected large numbers of these benevolent and useful institutions. The Teutonic countries cannot show any foundations of the same antiquity as those above mentioned, although the Synod of Aix, in 8i6, ordered that every ecclesiastical foundation, whether canonical or monastic, should provide for the poor, the sick, the widows, and the strangers. Such poor-house was to be placed near the Church, and a priest was to be its superintendent ; the infirmary was to be within the convent, as were also the wards for the widows and poor maidens. The establishment of many hospitals in the northern countries during the 8 th and 9th centuries, was due in a large measure to the efforts of the Irish missionaries, who, caring as much for the welfare of the bodies of their converts, as for their souls, received the name of Hospitalia Scotorum. These hospitals were always closely connected with the religious houses founded by these early missionaries, but practically no archi- tectural remains have survived. During early days, and, indeed, until the Reformation, hospitals and almshouses attached to religious houses, were, like all the other Institutions of the Church, directly controlled by the episcopate. The sums of money and other endowments of pious benefactors were placed under the control of the bishop, and so came within the jurisdiction of the Church. These donations and bequests were generally regarded In the nature of alms' in the days when the more wealthy members of the 1 The alms of pilgrims and travellers, no doubt, helped to fill the coffers of many hospitals. 16 Old English Houses of Alms community, and even the king himself, were in the habit of compounding for their sins by alms, an idea which was strengthened, even, indeed, if it did not originate, in the custom of the Church by which the imposition of alms was regarded as a means of penance. The introduction of this practice is attributed to Theodore of Canterbury, A.D. 700, and it was a practice much abused, as one would imagine, by those who were in a position to redeem their penances with gold. There is abundant evidence to show that the property of hospitals was regarded by the Crown as formmg part of the property of the Church, and those in attendance on the inmates were drawn almost without exception from adjacent monasteries or canonries. Miss Clay sums up in a single paragraph the relationships that existed between these charitable institutions, the Church and the State. " The hospital was a semi-independent institution, subject to royal and episcopal control in matters of constitution, jurisdiction, and finance, yet less trammelled in organization than most religious houses. It formed a part of the parochial system, and had also links of one kind and another with monastic life." The rules of conduct drawn up for the regulation of hospitals were of an essentially monastic character, and the special office of Eleemosynarius, or Almoner, which at first was given to one who merely distributed alms in monasteries and hospitals, became in due course the title of the Superintendent, Warden, or Master. The Hospitium was the place where travellers and strangers were entertained within the monastery itself. None were refused admission, all were to be made welcome, especially monks, clergy, poor, and foreigners. No one was to be questioned except by direct order of the Abbot. Even passing wayfarers were pressed to eat before continuing their journey, and should they not have time to wait for the common meal, food was specially prepared for them. They were to be met by the prior or his delegate, and after a few words of prayer by way of salutation, the kiss of peace was given and received. Some such form of hospitality was imperative in the days when travelling was attended by so much difficulty and danger. St. Benedict, in his Rule, says, "Before all things, and above all things, special care must be taken of the sick, so that they be served in very deed, as Christ Himself, for 17 c Old English Houses of Alms He saith : ' I was sick, and ye visited Me ' ; and, f What ye did to one of these My least Brethren ye did it to Me.' " Cassian speaks of one of the older monks being stationed by the Abbot near the entrance of the monastery to welcome the strangers as they arrived, and St. Benedict placed them under the general supervision of the cellarer, or house-steward. Subsequently a special office was appointed with the title " hospitalarius." Every precaution was taken that the influx of strangers should neither disturb the placidity of the " House of God," " nor lead to the propagation of mischievous rumours about it. None of the monks might exchange a word with a guest, except to ask a blessing. Part oJ the discipline of candidates for the novitiate consisted in their being deputed to wait upon the guests in their sitting-rooms (cella hospitium). History shows how the simple hospitality, enjoined by Benedict and his contemporaries, degenerated into luxury and display, demoralising to monks and laymen, impoverishing the funds and endowments, and one of the causes of the ultimate fall of religious houses. In early times the hospital was a guest-house, religious house, and infirmary under one roof; but in later days when these charitable institutions were erected mainly as retreats for the destitute and the aged, they were given such various appellations as " Maison Dieu," " Bede-house," " God's House " as well as the more familiar " Hospital," and " Alms- house;" which two last terms were applied indiscriminately. Generally considered, how- ever, there is a slight distinction, if not a difference between an " Almshouse " and a " Hospital," for whereas the former usually consists of a set of buildings made up of separate tenements between which there is no interior communication, the latter is entered by a common gateway, and possesses one or more rooms common to the community. The difference is something akin to that existing between what is now called a " collegiate " and a " cottage " system of housing. Both almshouses and hospitals were provided with chapels, and the two forms of charity were developed synchronously. The two systems, working side by side can be studied to great advantage at St. Cross Hospital, Winchester, where we have the "collegiate " system in the hospital founded by de Blois, and the " cottage " arrangement in the " Almshouses of Noble Poverty," a later benefaction of Cardinal Beaufort. Although the " Hospital," and the " Alms- houses " have been amalgamated for the purposes of administration they are quite distinct foundations. i8 Old English Houses of Alms Occasionally one finds the term " hospital " given to a charitable institution that was largely, if not entirely, educational in its scope and purposes, as Heriot's Hospital, Edin- burgh ; Christ's Hospital, London (now removed to West Horsham) ; and that fine piece of mediaeval architecture, Chetham Hospital, Manchester. In the same way the term " College " was sometimes applied to an almshouse, as Cure's College at Southwark, Sackville College, East Grinstead; Bromley College, Morden College, etc. In this connection mention may be made that Eton College was founded as a school and an almshouse. This may be news to many, yet such is the fact, for " The King's College or Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor," was founded by Charter on nth October, 1440, and created a corporation capable of holding property in perpetuity. It was to consist of a provost, ten fellows, four clerks, six choristers, a schoolmaster, twenty-five poor scholars, and a like number of " poor infirm men." The original foundation was to have combined the characteristics of a college of secular priests, an eleemosynary school, and an almshouse. Part of the revenues of Eton College at the present day come from about a hundred acres of land near Primrose Hill, which, like a good deal of the land it formerly held, had formed part of the possessions of the leper hospital of St. James in Westminster Fields, which had been granted to the college by its founder, Henry VI. The derivations of the terms, hospital, hospice, almshouse, Domus, Dei, etc., are so obvious as to require no comment. The meaning of the term " Bede " house is probably not so familiar. The word Bede means literally prayer. Thus a Bedehouse is a house of prayer, and a Bedeman a man of prayer. From Bede (prayer), the name was transferred to the small globular bodies used for " telling beads," or counting prayers. The Bede folk were those who prayed for a benefactor, and the Bedehouse was essentially a house of prayer and only incidentally an almshouse. Prayer for the souls of the founder was the raison d'etre of all Bedehouses, for, uncharitable as it may be to say so, many people founded these houses more with the object of providing their soul's welfare with a per- manent and continuous stream of intercessors, than to relieve the poor; under the impres- sion no doubt that charity covers a multitude of sins. Curiously enough the place-name Bettws, as found in Bettws-y-Coed, is the Welsh equivalent of our English Bede, i.e. prayer. In addition to the hospitals and almshouses founded by the Church or private benefactors in pre-Reformation days for the poor and kged, we shall find that the earliest institutions 19 Old English Houses of Alms of which we have any definite records were mostly tounded for the relief of lepers, and, when this disease died out, were in many cases adapted to the housing of the poor. The sites of some of these old hospitals is commemorated in the word Spital, an obvious corruption of hospital, as Elsing Spittle, near Cripplegate; Spitalfields, Spitalgate; while another form of commemorative place-name is that contained iii Burton Lazars, Leics. How, or at what time leprosy gained its great hold in England is not known. Some trace its origin from Egypt during the loth century; others state that it was introduced here by the returning Crusaders, notwithstanding that Syria was singularly free from this scourge at the time of the Crusades. It has also been suggested that it was brought to our shores by the Danes and Northmen who so freely ravaged the country. Whatever its origin, there is no doubt that the disease (whether true leprosy or not is a question that can be left to the medical experts) was very rife in England for many years, probably for centuries before the first Crusade. The known existence of leper-hospitals and lazar- houses, like St. Nicholas' Hospital, Harbledown, founded at least ten years before the first Crusade, is proof that however much they may have spread the disease over Europe, the introduction of it here is one of the few sins perhaps that the " Saint Terres " or saunterers of the romantic Crusades did not commit. Leprosy is not mentioned in any Saxon document with which the author is familiar, but reference to it occurs in the Ancren Riewle of Richard Poore, Bishop of Salisbury, 1217-28. Whatever the origin of the disease the position of outcast lepers was pitiable in the extreme. None would receive them; they were stoned in the streets, and generally regarded with horror and loathing. The efforts of the .Church, and the erection of lazar- houses on the outskirts of the towns helped to alleviate their sufferings; while the records of the mercy of Jesus to lepers in the Gospels, would draw the attention of the charitable to them as special objects of compassion, with the result that some of the noblest and most richly endowed foundations in the country were erected for the relief of lepers. The laws and enactments passed at various times, providing for these unfortunates, and guarding against the spread of the disease, make it clear that the leper was well cared for by the legislature. Infected persons were gradually removed from the monastic in- firmaries and lodged in isolated lazar-houses. At first they were allowed to beg corn and food in the market places, but their public appearances caused such offence to the healthy members of the community, that alms were collected on their behalf by proctors, who. 20 Old English Houses of Alms armed with a collecting box, were allowed to visit, on one day a month, monastic and other churches during the hours of service. It is thought that this custom is the origin of the later practice of collecting briefs in churches for the sufferers by a fire, flood, or some other great calamity. Many records exist relating to the collecting of alms for lepers. In 1 163, Bishop Bartholomew Iscanus, of Exeter, granted to the infected people of the leper hospital of St. Mary Magdalene in that city, liberty to collect a toll on all corn and bread sold in the fairs and markets, and also to collect alms from door to door on certain days of the week. Jenkin's records in his History of Exeter, that " a certain Richard Orange, Esq., a gentleman of noble parentage, submitted himself to a residence in this hospital (St. Mary Magdalene), where he lived many years, and was buried in the chancel of the Chapel." As late as the reign of Edward VI. large numbers of lepers were still in England, for in Ed. 6, c. 3, directions are given for carrying the poor to the places where they were born, " provided always that all leprous and poor bed-ridden creatures may, at their liberty, remain and continue in such houses, appointed for lepers, as they now be in." Miss Clay (Mediaval Hospitals 0/ England), records the collecting of a toll for lepers at Maiden Bradley, where the leprous women and their prior held a weekly fair; and at Newbury, where, according to a charter of 1 2 1 5, the collected proceeds are even to this day divided among the almsmen of St. Bartholomew's Hospital. Contemporary representations of lepers are found on the hospital seals of Sherburn, (Durham), Lincoln, and the Lazar- house, Mile End. So these old institutions continued, with varying fortunes, until the dissolution of the monasteries furnished an abundant incentive to this form of active benevolence, both living and posthumous; and however much they may have suffered during the years immediately following the dissolution of the religious houses, which had hitherto been their only mainstay in times of poverty and distress, the lot of the needy old folks during the succeeding centuries was not always an unenviable one. The bold bad baron, or the erring dame, were no longer able to settle matters with their consciences by donations to Mother Church, or the founding of Bedehouses. The Wars of the Roses had played terrible havoc with barons both good and bad, as well as with their possessions, but under the more settled government of the Tudors, and the encouragement they gave to commerce, the trading classes soon acquired both wealth and power. A great and mighty need arose, too, for on the monasteries and kindred institutions had devolved the 31 Old English Houses of Alms care of the poor, and these gone, their only resources disappeared until such time as private or municipal enterprise provided them with all they had lost in the downfall of the religious houses. The suppression of the monasteries resulted in immense tracts of land going out of cultivation, and laws were passed to arrest the depopulation of the country side. The coin- age became debased, the guild lands, in reality the medixval artisans' benefit funds, were confiscated. The poorer classes suffered terribly, for the monastic houses did for them all that our Poor Laws now do for their successors, and a great deal more. The monks were, generally speaking, indulgent landlords and kind neighbours; they kept open house and daily provided meals for all comers. All this now vanished, and in place of the easy-going clerics, the landlords consisted of courtiers and royal favourites, who, once in possession of their ill-gotten gains, proceeded to squeeze the last penny out of their tenants. They held their estates with cruelty and exaction, and seized and enclosed the common lands. The transition therefore, from a religious to a private and semi-secular form of poor relief, was a period that brought untold misery and suffering to the poor, the sick, and the aged. It would be absurd to affirm, as do a few writers on England's pre-Reformation ecclesiastical system, that these retreats were never used for mischievous purposes, or that the disposal of the revenues was always free from the imperfections and evils which belong to all such human institutions, even in the 20th century ; yet it would be quite un- worthy of the dignity of history to affect to undervalue the immense services which these foundations rendered to society at large, and to individuals in particular. If, in pursuit of corporate and private advantages, those in authority occasionally lapsed from the condi- tions of their trust, and preferred the individual to the general good, they did no more than all bodies of men have done when placed in similar positions; but whatever their personal interests and greed may from time to time have led them to do, we must remember that they constituted the only permanent mediating authority between the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak, and that — to their eternal honour be it said — the wardens and masters of these foundations fully comprehended, and faithfully performed, for the most part, the arduous duties of their responsible ofllices. Old English Houses of Alms It is also beyond question that these and similar institutions of the Middle Ages, not- withstanding the frequent pilfering of the funds, and other excesses on the part of those in authority, had a gradual tendency to develop a more wholesome system of constitutional rights, and to lead in time to that limitation of absolute power — whether vested in indi- viduals or general assemblies — which we have come to regard as the safest and most desirable form of civilised government. In fact, the history of our mediaeval institutions fvirnishes the best illustration of the steps by which we have reached our present condi- tion, and of the manner in which we have more or less profited in the endeavour to attain that conscientious, yet morally subdued condition of political freedom and purity of public life, on which we pride ourselves as a nation. Turning from the general to the more particular purposes of this volume, we shall find that, interesting as are the earliest types of hospitals and almshouses to the ecclesiologist and the antiquary, it was durmg the i6th and 17th centuries that the material structure of these charities reached its highest architectural development. In 1 509 Thomas Bond founded the Bablake Hospital at Coventry, and a year later Abbot Beere erected his fine almshouse at Glastonbury. William Smyth, in 15 14, repaired and practically rebuilt the curious hospital of St. John in the city of Lichfield, over which he presided as Bishop. The great merchant princes of Tiverton, John Greenway and John Waldron, built, in 1 517 and 1579 respectively, the beautiful almshouses still standing in this old Devon- shire town. Jesus Hospital, Rothwell, the benefaction of a pious schoolmaster, was erected in 1 591, and the building achievements of this century are fittingly epitomised in John Whitgift's princely gift of Trinity Hospital to his native place of Croydon, a building that Englishmen should ever revere and retain. In 1609, William Goddard founded Jesus Hospital, at Bray, and placed it under the care of the Fishmongers' Company, who still control it. To the year 1 6 1 5 we owe Bishop Still's interesting addition to his predecessor Bubwith's Hospital at Wells; and that little cloistered building called "Napper's Mite," at Dorchester. Sackville College, East Grinstead, and George Abbot's stately hospital at Guildford, date from 161 9, while to the same century we owe Lady Hungerford's delightful almshouses at Corsham, erected in 1668. Some of these homes are for men only, some for women only, while a few accommodate the poor of both sexes. At Wimborne the old hospital provides for three married couples, three single men, and three single women. In a few instances we find hospitals founded for special classes of 23 Old English Houses of Aims unfortunates, as at Blackheath where Sir John Morden founded a College for decayed merchants. Sir Thomas Coningsby founded a hospital at Hereford, the master of which was, according to his original stipulations, always to bear the name of Coningsby. There is little doubt that both the exterior and interior architecture of these charities, is of great suggestive value in regard to grouping of parts and general planning, while all of them are in a greater or lesser degree, worthy specimens of the diligent labour and fanciful imagination that is so characteristic of nearly all the Tudor, early Renaissance and Jacobean periods. If we examine the plans of these 1 6th and 17th century foundations, we shall find, almost without exception, that the component parts appertaining to nearly all of them consist of: — ^an audit room, a suite of rooms for the master or warden; an infirmary for the sick, a common hall; a suite of living rooms for the inmates; and a chapel, which last usually communicates directly with the secular buildings. In early types the chapel adjoins the hall from which it is separated by nothing more substantial than an open screen, thereby affording the sick and bedridden an opportunity of hearing the recital of the Church's oflices, from which, had the chapel been a separate building, they would have been debarred. It is generally considered that this wise and thoughtful arrangement was adopted from the ancient monastic infirmaries. It is found with existing hospitals at Chichester, Higham Ferrers, Stamford, Wells and Glastonbury. Another form of building is where the dwelling rooms for the inmates are under one roof, but the chapel, although contiguous to them, is a distinct and separate building, as was the case at St. John's Hospital, Northampton; and yet another variety is that in which the chapel or church is connected with the main wings by an ambulatory or cloister, as at St. Cross Hospital, Winchester; at Ewelme; and at Cobham. At the old hospitals of Sherburn and Greatham, Durham, the church is not connected in any way with the secular buildings, while with the old leper hospital at Sandwich, the little Early English Chapel stands isola ted in the midst of a public square, the various tenements of the almsfolk being grouped around it in little courts and byways. A surprisingly large number of foundations have retained their ancient chapels, while in a few instances, as at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, Oxford, the old chapel is the only architectural portion of the foundation that has survived. These hospital chapels have not yet received the attention they deserve at the hands of the eccle- siologist, for, in addition to a fair quantity of pre-Reformation fittings and furniture, 24 Old English Houses of Alms the original stone altars may still be seen in hospital chapels at Ripon, Stamford, Greatham, Glastonbury, and Salisbury. One or two, the Greenway Almshouses, Tiver- ton, for example, stiU exhibit on their walls a plea to the passer-by to pray for the soul of the founder, a pious request that found litde favour with the Parliamentary visitors of Reformation and Puritan days. Good examples of the quadrangular type of hospital are found at S. Cross Ewelme, Higham Ferrers, Warwick, Croydon, and Bray. Appertaining to this type, but owing to the narrowness of its courtyard, classed quite by itself, is Ford's Hospital at Coventry. Almshouses forming three sides of a quadrangle, the fourth side either left open or shut off by nothing more substantial than a wall, are at Temple Balsall, Abingdon, Lyford, and Heytesbury. Good straight rows of almshouses are those at Taunton, Stratford-on-Avon, Abingdon (Christ's), Lichfield, Hereford (Aubrey), and in many other places. Picturesque little almshouses with a cloistered gallery or covered way along the front are those at Moretonhampstead, Dorchester, Barnstaple, and the Leper, or St. Margaret's Hospital, Taunton. Good entrance gateways! are at St. Cross, and S. John's Hospitals, Winchester ; Sexey's Hospital, Bruton ; Jesus' Hospital, Roth well ; Beere's Almshouse, Glastonbury; and St. John's Hospital, Canterbury. It may not be uninteresting to call attention to the fact that although the great majority of almshouses and hospitals were planned and built expressly as houses of alms, there are several instances of buildings built for quite different purposes, being converted into residences for the poor. At the time of the Reformation the sale by the Crown, of some portion of a monastic or conventual house, to a person wishing to found an almshouse, was not uncommon. The old baronial hall of the Earls of Derby at Manchester — at the time of the dissolution a College of Secular Canons — was thus acquired by Sir Humphry Chetham, who founded the famous Chetham Hospital for boys, the magnificent buildings of which still remain. In much the same way Thomas Sutton became possessed of the old home of the ]A fine Norman doorway brought from the Magdalene Hospital, Winchester, now forms the entrance to St. Peter's R.C. Church in that city. 25 D Old English Houses of Alms Carthusians (Charterhouse), and re-endowed it as Sutton's Hospital. St. Peter's Hospital, Bristol, and the Bedehouse, Lyddington, are other examples of buildings erected for totally different purposes, being converted into homes for the poor. When the Savoy Palace was destroyed by a drunken mob wreaking their vengeance on the Duke of Lancaster, the ruins were re-built and endowed by Henry VII., as the famous Savoy Hospital. After a chequered and unhappy career, what remained of the much pilfered funds of this foundation was made over to the, then, new hospital of Bridewell — afterwards a house of correction — ^which eventually became merged in King Edward VI.'s schools, now reformatory schools, at Southwark and Witley. St, Katherine's Dock marks the site of the old hospital of St. Katherine, which, not so very long ago, stood where the waters of the Thames now flow. The great medical hospitals of Guy, St. Bartholomew, and St. Thomas, were originally hospitals in the non-medical meaning of that term, a remark that applies to several of the Oxford Colleges, which, if not exactly founded as almshouses, were incorporated with, and derived the nucleus of their funds from such institutions. Founders' tombs or monuments are found in hospital chapels at Sandwich (Henry de Sandwich, lord warden of the Cinque Ports) ; St. Bartholomew's, Smithfield (Rahere) ; and St. Mark's, Bristol (Maurice de Gaunt). Monuments, brasses, or chantries, of hospital founders or co-founders are found among other places at Ewelme (Alice de la Pole) ; Cobham (Lady Margaret de Cobham, brass) ; Tiverton (John and Joan Greenway, brass ; and John Waldron) ; Winchester Cathedral (de Blois and Cardinal Beaufort) ; Warwick (Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester) ; Milton Abbey (John Tregonwell) ; Bradford-on-Avon (John Hall, chantry) ; Salisbury Cathedral (Hunger- ford, restored chantry) ; Rothwell (Owen Ragdale) ; Canterbury Cathedral (Chichele • and Stephen Langton) ; Wimborne Minster (Gertrude Courtenay). Within the chancel rails of St. Cross' Hospital Church is a fine brass (1382), to John de Campeden, Master. Probably the most beautiful monument of ah almshouse founder or benefactor, with the exception of the tomb of Alice de la Pole at Ewelme, is that in the old priory church of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, to the memory of Sir John Crosby, 1 The Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford, keep the tomb of Henry Chichele, the founder, in good repair. 26 Old English Houses of Alms the builder of Crosby Hall — ^now unfortunately removed from its original site — ^and a great benefactor to London charities. This monument is without question one of the finest examples of monumental architecture we possess. The base of the tomb is of Purbeck marble, the figures of Sir John and his wife are of white alabaster, tricked out with colours. Appropriately enough, on the opposite side of the chancel of the same historic church, is the monument of Sir Thomas Gresham, founder of the Royal Exchange and of Gresham College. This monument, however, is a very uninteresting affair, being a sarcophagus tomb with fluted ribs, its heavy appearance being somewhat redeemed by the exceptionally well-carved escutcheons. In St. Saviour's Church, Southwark, is a mediaeval recessed arch, converted in later times into a memorial to Thomas Cure, saddler to Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth. He was a great benefactor to Southwark, where he founded a kind of almshouse, with a warden and pensioners, called the " College." The book of statutes, drawn up by the founder, still exists. It contains injunctions against " begginge," " typplinge in howses," " swearynge and raylinge." Cure also appears to have been one of the founders of St. Saviour's School. His epitaph, which is worth quoting, is a curious instance of Latin punning, and it is thought to have been the origin of an old song called The Perfect Cure. " Elizabetha tibi Princeps, servibit Equorum a sellis curus quem lapis iste tegit Serviit, Edwardo Regi Mari^ que Sorori Principibus magna est laus placuisse tribus CONVIXIT CUNCTUS CHARUS ReSPUBLTCA CuR^ Semper erat Curo commoda plebis erant dum vixi tribui senibus alendis Nummorum in sumptus Anna dona Domos. Obiit 24 Die Maii An Dom 1588." Effigies of founders, placed within niches or in some architecturally-treated recesses, are found on the exterior walls of Morden College, Blackheath (Sir John and 27 Old English Houses of Alms Lady Morden) ; Jesus' Hospital, Bray (William Goddard) ; Sexey's Hospital, Bruton (Hugh Sexey); S. Cross' Hospital, Winchester (Cardinal Beaufort) ; and on Foster's Hospital, Bristol. Contemporary portraits of founders or co-founders are those in St. John's Hospital, Winchester (Ralph Lambe); Abbots' Hospital, Guildford (George Abbot) ; and Christ's Hospital, Abingdon (Sir John Mason, and Edward VI.). Ancient Alms boxes are preserved at St. Nicholas' Hospital, Harbledown, the Penrose Almshouses, Barnstaple, and at the " Domus Dei," Stamford. Pessimists are never tired of asserting that every good action is inspired by a selfish motive, and that our rather vulgar modern custom of erecting stained glass windows, fonts, etc., presumably for the glorification of God, but obviously for the gratification of Jones, has many a mediaeval precedent. We must, however, not allow a few instances of personal vanity to blind our eyes to the fact that the greater number of almshouse founders erected the material structure to promote the welfare of the poor rather than to perpetuate or gratify a sense of personal vanity. No group of buildings are, in their way, more charming, or more impregnated with human associa- tions than the picturesque sets of almshouses that adorn so many of our cities, towns, and villages — ^asylums of peace and rest, comfort and repose, standing monuments to the memory of their founders, and the cause of heart-felt gratitude in the hearts of thousands of our needy old folk, now as in the past. Surely many an English town would be shorn of half its interest were its old houses of alms to be removed ; and as surely the general air of peace and quietude, the grassy plots, the benches and sun- dials, the heraldic insignia of founder or benefactor, all contribute in conveying to the receptive mind an appeal that is almost sacred in its simple eloquence. The touching inscriptions, carved on wall or gateway, are always appropriate and happy in expression, the lettering well spaced and sweetly cut. This all too brief introduction to our Old English Houses of Alms may fittingly close with the delightful inscription cut on the wall of a small set of ancient almshouses at at Bromham, in Wiltshire. 28 Old English Houses of Alms 1 WAS HUNGRIE AND YEE GAVE MEE MEATE. 1 WAS THIRSTIE AND YEE GAVE MEE DRINKE, I WAS NAKED AND YEE CLOTHED MEE. I WAS HARBARLES AND YEE CAVE MEE LODGINGE. CUM YEE BLESED OF MY FATHER INHERIT THE KINGDUM PREPARED FOR YOU. MAT 25, ANNO CHRI I 61 2 ET ANNO REG lAC REGIS MAGN BRITTAN lO. 29 Old English Houses of Alms St. John's Hospital, Canterbury CIRCA 1084. This ancient foundation is without question one of the earliest hospitals, properly so called, erected in this country. It was founded by Lanfranc about the year 1084, and has continued down to the present day as an asylum for the infirm poor. Its original purpose appears to have been the housing and care of poor, lame, infirm and blind men and women, the building being divided into two portions for this purpose. Nearly all the original buildings, which were of stone, were burnt down in the fourteenth century, with the exception of portions of the chapel, where traces of the old Norman building remain. Eadmer says in his History, " He (Lanfranc) built a fair and large house of stone, and added to it several habitations for the various needs and convenience of the men, together with an ample plot of ground." Miss Clay ' writes, "As Eadmer was living until 1 1 24, he saw the hospital shortly after its erection. He may even have watched the Norman masons complete it, and the first infirm inhabitants take up their abode." There is no doubt that this hospital, like so many others in the vicinity of Canterbury, benefited greatly by the alms of pilgrims wending their way to the great shrine of Becket in the Cathedral hard by. In 1507 a complaint was made to the Archdeacon that the Mayor of Canterbury had carried off among other things the chalice, paten, and bells from the chapel, but the charge appears to have been unfounded. The foundation is now tenanted by aged men and women, the presentation being in the hand of the Archdeacon. As at Lanfranc's sister foundation at Harbledown, a number of ancient cooking utensils and other domestic objects of interest are preserved here. The building is entered through a picturesque half-timbered gateway, the gables of which have carved and perforated barge-boards. 1 The " Mediseval Hospitals of England." 32 The c).J°nn Canferbur/. 33 St Nicholas' Hospital, Harbledown St. Nicholas' Hospital at Harbledown, situated on the London Road, one mile from Canterbury Cathedral, can justly claim to be one of the oldest foundations of its kind in the country. It was founded about 1084, for the relief of lepers, by Lanfranc, the Italian cleric brought by William I. from the Abbey of Bee, to be set at the head of the English Church. The fact that it was built ten years prior to the first Crusade is interesting, as throwing doubt on the generally accepted idea that leprosy was unknown in England until introduced here by the returning Crusaders. Lanfranc realised that only men of special gifts should be appointed to take charge of the lepers at Harbledown. Miss Clay tells us, "He not only arranged to supply all they might need on account of the nature of their illness," but appointed men to fulfil this work, " of whose skill, gentleness and patience no one could have any doubt." The lepers at Harbledown were not allowed to wander about the roads without permission, though leave was granted them to visit sick friends or relations, or to go beyond the customary bounds for recreation or on useful business. On entering the hospital, the lepers were supplied with a russet-coloured dress; the brethren wore scapulars, or the ordinary working dress of a monk, and the sisters wore mantles. Both men and women wore ox-hide boots reaching mid-way up the leg. On their heads the men wore hoods, while the women used thick veils. In 1276 the voluntary offerings had dwindled to such an extent that it was with great difficulty that the inmates were able to provide themselves with sufficient food. Miss Clay says, " When funds were low at Harbledown, the Archbishop impropriated Reculver church, thus augmenting the income by parochial tithes." This disgusted the parishioners, who sought redress, thinking it " ill to be subject to lepers." It is pi'obable that the site of Harbledown Hospital was chosen by Lanfranc on account of the proximity of a well of medicinal waters which were thoucrht to be efficacious in cases of leprosy. Medicinal wells were found also at Burton Lazars Peterborough, Newark and Nantwich, which may account for the sites of the hospitals at these places. 34 Old English Houses of Alms The well at Harbledown is commonly called the Black Prince's well, according to the popular tradition that water from it was sent to the hero of Poictiers when on his death-bed at Canterbury. This tradition is unsupported by evidence, while the fact that the Black Prince did not die at Canterbury, is entirely against the theory. It may, however, be connected with the Prince in another way, for after the battle above referred to, the Prince and his prisoner, King John of France, passed through Harbledown (April 19th, 1357) on their way to Canterbury and London. Halting at the Hospital, they would doubtless be offered the relics to kiss, and would probably drink a cup of water from the holy well. If such were the case, it can easily be understood that the spring might ever afterwards be known as the Black Prince's well. Be this as it may, the key-stone of the semi-circular arch above it, bears in somewhat deep carving, the well-known cognisance of the Prince, the three feathers, and the motto, "Ich Dien," but there is no evidence to show when the stone was inserted. ' The existing structure, although partly rebuilt with brick in the reign of James II., contains a considerable portion of the original Norman building, while the walls of the interior are covered with a number of old fresco paintings. A curious feature of the Church is the downward slope of the floor from the altar to the west doorway. This was unquestionably designed to drain ofi^ the water with which the church was flooded after the lepers had attended mass. The same thing is observable at Shaftesbury, and in many of those churches that were built to accommodate large bodies of pilgrims. In many of the churches the pilgrims, with clothing, feet, and bodies covered with the dust and filth of the journey, would spend the whole night before the hallowed shrine or saintly relic, with the consequence that the necessity arose of devising some simple means of flushing the floor with water. The old seats and benches at Harbledown, dating from the thirteenth century, are also worthy of attention. Some interesting relics are preserved in the building, including the famous " Erasmus " money or alms box, of which tradition gives the following account. When Erasmus visited the hospital in the company of Dean Colet, one of the brethren presented a holy relic for the travellers to kiss before being sprinkled with holy water. The relic was the portion of a shoe once worn by St. Thomas of Canterbury. The dean declined the profi^ered favour with such an outburst of wrathful rhetoric, that the courteous 35 Old English Houses of Alms Erasmus must needs make amends, and appease the astonished brother by dropping a goodly donation into the box, at that time fastened by a chain, of which a few links remain, to a tree near the hospital gate, or at the end of a long pole, so that the passer-by might give his donation at a safe distance from the infected lepers. Other relics to be seen are some good " London " marked pewter plates and tankards, a set of wooden trenchers, and a maple mazar, or drinking cup, with a silver-gilt relief, whereon the carver has engraved the combat of Guy, Earl of Warwick, with a dragon. &•:-■• nil Jtlmshovjes sf . • Chipping VampdeM 32 The Erasmus Money Box. 37 St. John's Hospital, Northampton CIRCA 1200. Leland tells us that this hospital, dedicated in the name of S. John the Baptist, and formerly in the patronage of the Bishop of Lincoln, was founded by William Sancte Clere, or S. Liz, Archdeacon of Northamptonshire. By an inquisition, how- ever, taken in the first year of Edward IIL's reign (1327), it is there stated to have been founded nearly two centuries before that date by Walter, Archdeacon of the same county, for the reception and maintenance of infirm poor. The solution of the mystery is rendered even more difficult by the fact that in the recorded list of Northampton's Archdeacons, no mention is made of Walter, but the name of one William occurs as possessed of that title at the period of his death in 1168, and he may be the William Sancte Clere above mentioned. Bridges, the historian of Northants, states that " the government of this hospital is vested in a master and two co-brothers or chaplains. The master appoints the brothers, and is himself appointed by the Bishop of Lincoln. The hospital consists of a chapel, a hall or common room, with lodgings for the poor, and two rooms over them for the co-brothers. The master hath a good house and garden. The co-brothers, who officiate as chaplains, are in holy orders, but it is not required that the master be a clergyman. The co-brothers' salaries are ;£^ each, with IIS. each in lieu of firewood, and los. on the renewal of leases. Eight poor people, appointed by the master, are maintained here with lodging, firing in the common hall, and an allowance of is. 2d. weekly. Lord Northampton pays annually, by agreement, ;^io instead of wood, out of Yardley chase." The further revenues of the foundation came from rents and property in several parishes of the county and elsewhere, and by a survey taken in the twenty-sixth year of Henry VIII. (1535), the revenue, clear of all deductions for upkeep, salaries, and pensions, is returned at ^57 19s. 6d.; by a subsequent estimate made some seven years later, the taxation of the income was reduced to £2^ 6s. 2fd. 38 Old English Houses of Alms The plan of the building consists of a common hall, with a central passage, on each side of which were the rooms or cubicles of the residents, being in this respect similar but not exactly corresponding to the examples at S. Mary's Hospital, Chichester, the Bede house at Higham Ferrers, Browne's Hospital, Stamford, and others, to which attention has been called in the introduction. The difference is that although the chapel stands at the N.E. angle of the main apart- ment, it is not approached from within the latter, the entrance being external, and on the south side. About half-way in the length of the common hall is a staircase leading to two rooms above, originally allotted to the co-brothers. The chapel has an east window of three lights, and is a good example of Middle Pointed intersecting tracery, the west window of five lights being Perpendicular, and four-centred. Under this window is a doorway of the same date, embellished with some excellent carving (see illustration). Of this chapel Bridges writes : — " In the windows are some imperfect coats of arms and broken figures, and in one window the entire portrait of a person mitred, with a crosier in his hand, and of another in the posture of prayer. In several places of the east window, in black letters, is Honor Deo." Many of the masters were buried in this chapel, together with some knights and others who were slain at the battle of Northampton, temp Henry VI. The chapel underwent a much needed renovation about 1850, when the wooden bell-cot over the west gable, the seats and communion table, and the enclosure wall and entrance gates were erected. The master's house was an exception to the general rule, in that it stood in a garden away from the hospital. The building shows a few fragments of 13th century work, including the original roof and a small lancet window, the remaining portion being mainly of 1 6th century date. A full account and plan of this building, with illustrations of the two early features to which attention has been called, will be found in Turner's Domestic Architecture of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries, vol. i. p. 156. 39 Old English Houses of Alms Externally, the architecture is unusual. The principal front (see plate) consists of a large arched recess, in which originally was a niche ; and a low doorway. The gable is pierced by a circular window, the tracery of which is of very unusual design, and one that the author has never met with elsewhere. The gable cross is quite modern. This building, unfortunately, is no longer fulfilling the charitable purposes for which it Tamil in^ on West Door of Ghapel, S.Joh'n's kospital f/oHh'snipton. was erected, for after the peculations of successive masters during the 17 th and i8th centuries, the funds practically vanished, and the building became neglected, and so remain, until it was acquired by the Roman Catholic community for their place of worship, being consecrated as such by the late Cardinal Manning. This will ensure the preservation of the chapel, and, one trusts, of the secular hall as well, for at the present moment this serves no nobler purpose than that of providing a residence for the caretaker. 40 .TldneY Heafh S^ John's Mo6pifaI, TtoilhaymfoLkm/ 41 St. Mary's Hospital, Chichester CIRCA 1229. St. Mary's Hospital, at Chichester, is a foundation of great interest, and one that is said to have been founded by William, fifth dean of Chichester {temp Henry II.) for the reception of nuns ; but its early history is very obscure. In 1229 it was first recog- nised as the Hospital of the Blessed Virgin Mary, for the maintenance of a warden, chaplain, and thirteen poor persons. Besides the regular inmates, arrangement was made for poor travellers to be taken in and well cared for on seeking admission. A statute of the Hospital enacted that " if anyone in infirm health and destitute of friends should seek admission for a term, until he shall recover, let him be gladly received and assigned a bed." Its final constitution was settled under Elizabeth in 1562, when it was limited to a warden and five inmates, to which number three have been added in recent times. St. Mary's at Chichester is the finest remaining example of the old infirmary type of almshouse. The hall is divided from the chapel only by a good Decorated screen, so that the sick or bedridden could lie in their beds along the sides of the hall and attend to the services conveniently. The great hall of four bays has a fine timber roof extend- ing in one span over the entire building, and is subdivided into a species of nave and aisles by wooden pillars supporting the roof. These aisles in i860 were divided into rooms or cabins for the inmates. The chapel is almost entirely of the Geometric-Decorated period ; the screen (with the exception of the upper part, which shows signs of a Jacobean restoration), and all the woodwork is of the same date. The piscina is canopied with trefoil-headed tracery in the arch, and over the sedilia is some very beautiful cusped tracery. The old stalls and misereres are also well worthy of attention. 42 A Bench End m Chapel ^ «^'J5^^^i--'--.-.r.v. . .-..v • kI" ...>;.-" v:X- ^ Mary 5 Wofpifal Chichejfer didney Healh. St. Margaret's Hospital, Wimborne 1241. Like so many of our really old charitable institutions, St. Margaret's Hospital, situated a quarter of a mile to the north-west of Wimborne, appears to have been founded originally for lepers. Tradition gives John of Gaunt, son of Edward III., as the founder, but what slight documentary evidence exists, seems to indicate an early 13 th century institution. The foundation was not one of the well-endowed, and it appears to have been largely, if not altogether, maintained, by the gifts of the charitable, who, in return, were granted various indulgencies, as is set forth in a deed dated XVI. Henry VIII., wherein we learn that " Pope Innocent IV., in the year 1245, ^7 ^" indulgance or buUe did assoyl them of all signs forgotten, and offences done against fader and moder, and all swerynges neglygently made. This indulgans, granted of Petyr and Powle, and of the said Pope, was to hold good for 51 years and 260 days, provided they repeated a certain specified number of Paternosters and Ave Marias daily." The chapel joins one of the tenements of the almsmen, and here comes one of the minster clergy every Thursday afternoon to conduct service. The interior has been refitted in recent years, but the windows, walls, etc., remain in their original state. There are three doors in the north wall, the doorways of which are chamfered and have pointed heads. The east window has a semi-circular head, plain wooden tracery dividing it into two lancets with an opening above them. On the south side some pointed doorways and lancet window help to determine, together with the deed already quoted, the 13 th century origin of the building. Some traces of frescoes, both geo- metrical patterns and figures, remain on the inside walls. The roof is an open one of timber, with the beams running across at the level of the wall plates. To the left of the doorway selected for illustration will be seen a very good outside holy- water stoup, the surface of the stone having been worn into a deep hollow by contact with generations of hands. The only other outside stoup in Dorset with which the author is acquainted, is an equally good example in the wall of the side porch of Broad- mayne Church, near Dorchester. 44 Old English Houses of Alms The tenements attached to this little hospital are nine in number — three occupied by married couples, three by men and three by women. The walls of these dwellings are at present a mixture of stone, rubble, and modern brick. The old stone muUions have Wimborne *— .-^Sidney Healii. been pulled out for the insertion of more modern windows, but portions of the old framings remain, as do a few wooden door frames embedded in the walls, and one or two courses of the enormous slabs of stone that originally covered the roof. 4S The Boniface Hospital, Maidstone 1260—1395. This ancient and interesting foundation, frequently called the Hospital of Newark (New Work), was founded in 1260 by Archbishop Boniface, for the reception of poor travellers, and in particular for such pilgrims as passed through Maidstone on their way to the shrine of the martyred Becket at Canterbury. The hospital chapel, after being used for many years as a storeroom, has been restored and again fitted for worship, as St. Peter's Church. It contains much good work of early Perpendicular date. In 1395 the old hospital was, by Archbishop Courtenay, incorporated with a college of Secular Priests ; and of this foundation the greater part is still standing. The college was dissolved circa 1538, the existing buildings being in private occupation. These comprise a fine gateway (see illustration), a long range of rooms between it and the river, and a tower guarding the river approach. On the right of the gateway is the master's house; on the left a wing where was formerly the College bakehouse and other domestic oflUces. The corresponding wing containing the refectory and dormitories is now a school, and the massive tower by the river makes a delightful private residence, as also does the master's house, with its terraced gardens sloping to the Medway. No trace of the old cloisters remains. Above the main arch of the gateway is a fine apartment used by the local lodge of Freemasons. 46 47 St. Cross Hospital, Winchester 1136. The fine old Hospital of St. Cross, near Winchester, was founded in 1 136, by Henry de Blois, Bishop of Winchester, but the following year the management of the foundation was given to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, who for some time appear to have had a difficulty in making good their claim to administer the charity. In 1 185 they surrendered the foundation to Bishop Toclyve, but two years later it was handed back to them by the Pope, a grant that was confirmed in 1189 by Richard I. Litigation, even then, did not cease, for in 1179 ^* "^^^ awarded to the Bishop of Winchester on appeal to the Pope. The Hospitallers, however, in 1 1 99, once more gained possession of the buildings, to whom they were given by King John, but the following year saw the whole of the foundation assigned to the Bishop of Winchester. A survival of the Hospitallers' rule here is preserved in the badges (Crosses potent), worn by the pensioners, and it may be here mentioned that, on the death of one of the brothers, the Silver Cross is placed on a red velvet cushion, and laid on his breast in the coffin, but is removed before the burial takes place, and fastened by the master on the gown of the next comer. The hospital buildings consist of an outer gateway and court, in which are the various domestic offices of the brotherhood. From the fore-court, through Cardinal Beaufort's noble gateway, one enters the spacious quadrangle, around which are arranged the brethren's dwellings, hall and church, while on the east side is the ambulatory with the infirmary above. The north side comprises the refectory and the master's house. The ambulatory, of sixteenth century date, is one hundred and thirty feet long. It possesses a good oriel window and simple spandrils to the supporting woodwork. By far the finest architectural feature of the secular portion of this quadrangle is the massive gate- way, called the Beaufort Tower, after the famous Cardinal, who, if not the original builder, restored it in a very thorough manner (1404-47), and endowed it with that 48 THE BEAUFORT ~ GATEWAY ' S. CfOSS WOSPITBL * 49 Old English Houses of Alms architectural quality that gives it so distinguished a place in the building achievements of the fifteenth century. Above the richly groined and vaulted ceiling of this gateway the external arch of which is four centred and well moulded, is the founder's chamber, lighted by a square- headed, transomed window, with cinquefoil tracery. This apartment is now used as a board-room by the hospital trustees, and here also the ancient documents relating to the foundation are preserved. Above this room the external wall carries a canopied niche, wherein one stood an effigy of the Blessed Virgin, who, falling from her pedestal about a century ago, nearly killed one of the brethren in her descent. The head of this broken figure may still be seen in the north choir aisle of the church. The north side of this gateway has three similar niches, only one of which has retained its effigy, that of the Cardinal in a kneeling posture. Within the gateway is the porter's hatchway, associated with the retention of that charitable custom of mediaeval England by which the wayfarer, be he gentle, simple, beggar or noble, was entitled to a daily dole. The custom as at present carried out is but a relic and a faint echo of the times when a hundred poor men were fed every day in the great hall of the hospital. We are told also that the poorer scholars of Winchester College dined without fee in the " Hundred Men's Hall." The daily dole now consists of but two gallons of ale and two loaves of bread; the number of wayfarers who claim their portion of each, averages thirty a day. Cardinal Beaufort also founded in 1446 the " Almshouses of Noble Poverty," but these dwellings, situated on the south side of the quadrangle, were pulled down in 1789. The existing brethren's houses to which the Cardinal is thought to have added the tall projecting chimney-shafts, are fashioned like those of the old Carthusians, each brother having two rooms, a pantry, and a garden. The Brethren's Hall, or the " Hundred Mennes Hall " was re-roofed in 1334 by Wil- liam de Edyndon. It is lighted by four XlVth century windows and contains a minstrel so SI Old English Houses of Alms gallery, an interesting XVth century staircase, and a raised hearth or open fireplace, in the centre of the floor. This hall originally measured 36 ft. by 24 ft., but a portion was cut off to provide a residence for the master, who is now housed in a modern building erected to the north of the Beaufort Tower, outside the gates. Interesting as are the secular portions of this foundation, the old Hospital Church, now the parish Church of the Village of St. Cross, a village that owes its origin to the charit- able institution set in its midst, is of remarkable value to students of ecclesiastical architecture. Occupying more than a century in building, the exact dates being from 1 130 to 1255, it exhibits every style of architecture from Romanesque, through the Transition-Norman and Early English, to the Late Decorated, the Transition-Norman portion being considered the best example of this particular period, in existence. The west front is very beautiful. The south-side is somewhat plainer, owing, no doubt, to the fact that here were placed the early Conventual buildings, since done away with. Between the south transept and the choir aisle is a triple-arched doorway with zig-zag mouldings. The principal objects of interest in the interior are the massive pillars, the triforium with intersecting arches, the altar-slab of Purbeck marble, the stone screens and tabernacle work on either side of the altar, and the roof pendants. In the north choir aisle a tile marks the burial place of King, one of the Brethren, who, although only a working mason, and more than seventy years of age, discovered and opened out the greater part of the mouldings and frescoes on the walls. There is but one monument in the Church, that of Speaker Cornwall, 1789, and a brass in the choir to John de Campeden, 1382, Master. The ancient sacristy adjoining the south transept has a vaulted roof, and three or four recesses or aumbries for keeping the sacred vessels. The exterior walls of this portion indicate that the roof has been twice lowered. The Hospital and its endowments survived the Reformation. The Vicar-General reported that there was need for " reformation in certain things," and that sturdy beggars were to be repulsed. 52 m imiiMlimul„UIIIUPI>i'mi„„mr„„;„;, l ,^,y,^,„^^^ 'Jim 'M/ti;. 7 i I L <>Xv|' ft l^ i^'Tv P >! mran fa "^Sj^MCJ-pi fir r%vi^'i /§ ,5i<)i«i.^l'.. . ■ '•'"^'•^''"■mlfcKMW.hl.,.',.^. 109 Abbott's Hospital, Guildford 1619. The foundation stone of George Abbott's Hospital, the gift of the founder to his native. place of Guildford, was laid by Sir Nicholas Kempe on April 6th, 1619, some eight years after the donor's promotion from the Bishopric of London to the Arch- bishopric of Canterbury. The central gateway, flanked by semi-octagonal turrets and adorned with the Virgilian inscription, " Deus Nobis H^c Otia Fecit," is lighted by two tiers of windows whereof the upper one is divided by stone muUions into four lights, and the lower one, by the addition of a transom, into ten. Above these is a large sun-dial, and below them the founder's heraldic insignia tastefully carved on a large stone panel inserted in the brickwork. The turrets are surmounted by cupolas, on each of which veers a banner vane. Beyond the gateway is the quadrangle, about 70 feet square, prettily laid out with walks and flower beds. On the left are the rooms of the brethren, on the right those of the sisters, while in the north-east corner is the Master's House. The dining-hall, an apartment 30 feet long, is panelled nearly to the full height of the walls, and has a fine cornice and a very remarkable mantelpiece with an open fireplace. Like all the other apartments, this hall has retained the whole of its original fittings, stools, tables, and benches. The attached chapel has also many points of interest, including two stained glass windo^vs, the designs of which have been attributed on very slight evidence to Albert Durer. Other attractive features are the kitchen, with its buttery-hatch ; the "board-room " over the gateway ; the Master's House ; and the old black oak, with which the whole of the interior is embellished. Among what may be termed the minor architectural features are the elaborate chimney-stacks, of every shape — octagonal, poly- gonal, or roughly squared — collected at the top into clusters by bands of heavily- moulded brickwork. It was in this building that the unfortunate Duke of Monmouth was lodged on his way to London, after Sedgemoor; and here also Archbishop Abbott retired for a while after an ill-aimed arrow from his cross-bow had killed one of the keepers of Lord Zouch, with whom he was hunting at the time. This unfortunate incident caused a great controversy, not only among the English divines, but with the learned doctors of the Sorbonne as well, and ended in the grant of a full pardon to Abbott from the King, and a dispensation from the bishops, contrary to the opinion of Lord Keeper Williams, who held that a sacred office could not be held by " a man of blood." Three bishops-elect, one of them Laud, refused to receive consecration from Abbott, and their scruples were respected, while it was gloomily remembered afterwards that the crown had been placed on the head of Charles L by a homicide. 5idney Healh hhbolVs Hospital, GuildforJ. The Penrose Almshouses, Barnstaple 1627. Few of our old towns can show so many old almshouses existing under ancient foundations as Barnstaple. The greater number have been rebuilt or restored many times since they were first erected ; but those founded in 1627 by John Penrose, Mayor of Barn- staple, have escaped any serious alteration. These are situated in Litchdon Street, near the Square, and are quadrangular in plan, with a sort of wooden roofed cloister, the roof supported on stumpy granite columns, attached to one of which is a very ancient alms- box that has received the charitable contributions of generations of Barnstaple's citizens. The entrance is placed in the centre of the front elevation, the covered way being terminated on one side by the Council Chamber, and on the other by the chapel. In the latter there is a fine portrait of John Penrose, the founder of the charity, by Jansen. The buildings consist of twenty dwellings, with accomodation for two inmates in each. 112 5id«ej'Healh. The Penrofe Hlmfhoufep^ 3^rnfhple. 113 The Aubrey Hospital, Hereford 1630. This little half-timbered building at Hereford was founded in 1630 for six poor women — widows or spinsters — of not less than sixty years of age. In addition to free quarters, each inmate receives a sum of money, paid quarterly. The front of the building comprises three gables, and is of the usual half-timbered type, exhibiting massive oak framework filled in with brick and plaster. The mouldings are very good, and the building has not suffered from any extensive restoration. Almshouses at Lyford, Berks 1611. A very interesting group of almshouses of a humble and unpretentious type are those at Lyford, about six miles from Abingdon, in Berkshire. The buildings are of brick, and are quadrangular in form, the chapel being on the west side. The charity was originally founded in 161 1 by Oliver Ashcombe, a native of Lyford, for the poor of East and West Hanney and Lyford. The revenue is now ;^3oo per annum. Each of the twenty inmates receives four shillings a week. The illustration of this set of almshouses is given as a heading to the Introduction, page 15. 114 IIS Almshouses at Beaminster 1630. Beaminster, the " Emminster " of Thomas Hardy's novels, is the most delightful town in West Dorset, charmingly situated in a valley upon which fall the shadows of the twin hills of Lewesdon and Pillsdon Pen. The town lies equidistant (six miles) from Crewkerne in the north and Bridport in the south, and has no railway ; communi- cation from the outer world being by coach, a blessing for which lovers of an unspoiled old town are very grateful. The chief glory of the place is its Perpendicular church, with a tower as fine in conception and as rich in well-wrought figures and mouldings as any to be found in the neighbouring county of Somerset. As a general rule, the churches of Dorset are vastly inferior in workmanship to those of the sister shire, but Beaminster is a charming and quite noteworthy exception. The beautiful manor-houses of Parnham and Mapperton are in the immediate environs of the town, while a short distance away is Racedown Lodge, the residence, for a time, of the poet Wordsworth. As one would expect, this little town has retained a good number of its smaller domestic buildings, among them a set of almshouses, the front of which is almost hidden from view by the high ground of the churchyard. This building was erected and endowed in 1630 by Sir John Strode, of Parnham, on the site of an ancient chantry house, and this no doubt explains its somewhat peculiar position. The founder directed that six poor persons of Beaminster, or elsewhere, should inhabit it. On one of the stones is this inscription: — God's House Sit honos Trino Deo Anno Dom 1630. n6 SidMPV 117 Gray's Almshouses, Taunton 1635. This group of almshouses, situated in East Street, Taunton, was founded by Robert Gray, in 1635. The exterior is a simple but dignified piece of XVIIth Century building. On one of the heraldic panels inserted above the doorways are displayed the arms of the founder, together with those of the Merchant Taylors' Company. The roof of the chapel is surmounted by a small bell turret. The interior also has a few points of interest. The chapel, where the men and women sit apart, has retained much of its ancient decoration and fittings. Here also is an old oak chest within which the ancient documents relating to the foundation are preserved. Among these is said to be an Inspeximus of a grant dated 6 Edward IV. Adjoining the almshouses are two gabled houses, dated 1638, which belong to the charity. The coloured effigy of Robert Gray, clad in the costume of his period, is in the north aisle of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, whose beautiful Perpendicular tower is noteworthy, even among such a wealth of towers of this particular era as Somerset can boast. The epitaph attached to Gray's monument ends with the following lines : — " What he gave and how he gave it. Ask the poor, and you shall have it." 118 M Mi!ilMniiiMiii [iiiiBii.T=-.:.-..-rr "^^ ■"liimfflmiipillllllllllllllHMi iiiimni. -.-:;: »l ^r&fs RUvfbovje.-^ ^^mm^^.-=^^.-. 119 Almshouses at Moretonhampstead 1639. Moretonhampstead, situated on the edge of the true Dartmoor Country, possesses a very picturesque little group of Jacobean almshouses. Along the front runs a little open gallery or cloister, the principal entrance being placed in the centre. Above this covered way is a dripstone, with somewhat unusual terminals, which is carried nearly the entire length of the building. A covering of thatch has taken the place of the original stone roof, but with this exception the little structure, is much as it was when first erected. The large blocks of stcne with which it is constructed were no doubt obtained from one of the numerous quarries of the neighbouring moor. 120 '^''"'ll'iS?!^'^!^!^ s*^ The Hungerford Almshouses, Corsham 1668. It is doubtful if one could find throughout the length and breadth of the County of Wiltshire a more excellent or picturesque group of buildings than the Hospital or Alms- house of Lady Hungerford, at Corsham, seven miles from Chippenham. The great attraction of this secluded village is Corsham Court (the seat of Lord Methuen), with its remarkable collection of pictures ; but the lover of the picturesque will surely revel in the harmonious grouping and ornamental detail of the Hungerford Almshouses, founded and endowed in 1672 for a master and six aged poor, by Margaret, the widow of Sir Edward Hungerford. The original funds provided ;^2o yearly for the master, and ;^3o yearly for the six inmates, but the endowment has been increased by Mrs. Alexander. The governor of the almshouse is Earl Radnor. 133 Old English Houses of Alms The accompanying illustrations will convey some idea of the charm of this many- gabled stone building, which, except for the insertion of a few XVIIIth Century windows and the addition of one or two chimney-stacks must be exactly as originally built. A free school was at one time attached to the foundation, but this portion of the charity has fallen into abeyance. Above the highly picturesque west and north doorways appear on a hatchment the arms of Hungerford, surrounded by sculpture of a Renaissance character depicting among other things the " garb " of the Peverels, and the " sickle " of the Hungerfords, both family badges. The seal of Sir Edward Hungerford's famous ancestor. Sir Walter de Hungerford, K.G. (a.d. 1425), displays the happy heraldic alliance of the sickle, his own badge, with the garb of Peverel (borne by him in right of his wife, Catherine, daughter and co-heir of Thomas Peverel), to form his Crest, i.e., a garb between two sickles, and such appears on the Corsham Almshouse. Through an alliance with the Hungerfords, the great Devon- shire house of Courtenay bore the sickle as one of their numerous badges. Both the north and west fronts exhibit tablets lettered with the following commemor- ative inscription : — " This Free School and Almshouse was founded and endowed by Margaret Lady Hungerford, relict of Sir Edward Hungerford, Kt., of the Honourable Order of the Bath, daughter and co-heire of William Halliday, Alderman of London, and Susan his wife, daughter of Sir Henry Row, Knight, and Alderman and Lord Mayor of London." 124 Old English Houses of Alms High above the gable of the west porch rises a tall bell turret containing one bell. The chapel attached to the foundation has retained its original Jacobean pulpit, stalls, screen and gallery. The date of the building is usually given as 1672, the year no doubt of its completion and opening, for the tablet on the north front bears the date 1668. It is surely worthy of note that this XVIIth Century charity, with its air of spacious planning, nobly-propor- tioned rooms, cosy tenements and solid walls was not erected as a manorial residence or for rent-paying tenants, but merely as a home and shelter for six destitute old women. There is little doubt that the four pollarded willows skirting the wall of the west front are solitary survivors of a belt of similar trees that formerly sheltered the building on both sides. They bear evidences of great age, and may well be as old as the structure they still help to protect from the fierce rays of the summer sun, and the devastating storms of wind and rain that, gathering force on the western seaboard, periodically sweep over the exposed downs of Wiltshire, Somerset and Devon. Through failure of issue male, the remnant of the once vast estates of the Hunger- fords went, by marriage, to the family of the Earl of Radnor, where it still remains. The family burial-place of the Hungerfords was within two beautiful mortuary chapels in Salisbury Cathedral, but these were destroyed by that terrible " restorer," Wyatt. W. H. Rogers, in his " Sepulchral Effigies of Devon," says, " Walter, Lord Hungerford, K.G. (ob 1449) and his first wife, Catherine Peverel, were buried in their chapel in the nave (Salisbury), a beautiful structure, chiefly of iron. Their tombs, joined together and despoiled of their brass effigies, remain in the nave. The matrices exhibit the proportions of a Knight on the one, and of a lady on the other ; both stones were powdered over with 125 Old English Houses of Alms sickles and a ledger line outside all. The whole has now disappeared, except the stones in which the brasses were set." Hutchins, who describes these chapels previous to their removal, tells us that round the outside were forty shields of arms exhibiting the various alliances of the family. Among these were Hungerford impaling Strange and Mohun, Peverel, Courtenay Mules, and many other Western families. The remains of one of the chantries destroyed by Wyatt have been removed from their original position in the nave and converted into a pew for the Radnor family. Various compartments are filled with newly emblazoned shields bearing the arms of the founder and his two wives, while the ceiling has a series of heraldic charges showing the descent of the Earl of Radnor from the Hungerfords. The upper portion of this restored family pew contains some very interesting early iron work, indicating that the original chapel must have been originally nearly as good, if not quite so elaborate, as the beautiful iron chantry of Edward IV. in St. George's Chapel at Windsor. 126 127 Hall's Almshouses, Bradford-on-Avon 1700. This building was founded and endowed in 1700 by John Hall for four poor men. The founder was the last of an ancient family who had been associated with Bradford-on- Avon for centuries. One of this benefactor's ancestors, another John Hall, built the interesting but over-elaborate Jacobean mansion of Kingston House near by. The almshouses are built of stone throughout, the blocks used in the front elevation being exceptionally large, even for such a stone-producing county as Wiltshire. Above the two centrally-grouped doorways a beautiful Renaissance panel exhibits on a shield the " three battle-axes" of the Hall family, and the motto "Deo et Pauperibus" (for God and the Poor), to which has been added "improved, restored and further endowed 1 891-3 by Horatio Moulton, of Kingston." One chimney-shaft bears the letter H, surmounted by a coronet, for Hall ; the second shaft an M, also with a coronet, for Manvers, the Earl of this name being a lineal descendant of the founder and the present administrator of the charity. At the end of the nave of the parish Church of Bradford-on-Avon is the Chantry Chapel of the Hall family. The pleasing appearance of the building to-day is due largely to conditions as enviable as they are rare. In the first place the structure is coniplete, nothing having been added or taken away, while its situation at the junction of two main roads enables one to walk round and view the edifice from al^ points of the compass. Would that all good architec- ture could be seen to such advantage. Bradford-on-Avon has managed to retain quite a number of its old domestic buildings, in addition to its wonderful little bridge chantry, one of three left in England (the others being at Rotherham and Wakefield), and its Saxon Church, attributed to St. Aldhelm, the first Bishop of Sherborne, in Dorset. 128 Sracrf^ofd* on *Avom Sidney Heath WilU. IZ9 Tomkin's Almshouses, Abingdon 1733. Among the numerous sets of charities for which Abingdon is noted, are the alms- houses situated in Ock-Street. They comprise eight dwellings built in the form of a quadrangle, of which one end is open to the street. On a large recessed tablet is the following inscription : — "These almshouses were built in the year 1733 by the order of Mr. Benjamin Tom- kins the elder, of this town, and according to the form prescribed by him to his sons, Mr. Benjamin and Mr. Joseph Tomkins ; who were executors to his Will and Testament, by which he gave sixteen hundred pounds, to endow the same for four poor men and four poor women for ever." This foundation has been further endowed by Mr. W. F. Smith, of Abingdon, 130 131 Sherburn Hospital, Durham 1759 (rebuilt.) Sherburn Hospital, or, more correctly, Sherburn House {i.e. House of Mercy), owes its origip to the well-known Hugh Pudsey, the " Jolly Bishop of Durham " (i 1 54-1 194), and was intended for the reception of sixty-five lepers, some of whom were women. The name " Sherburn," or " Sherborne " is common to several places in England, and is derived from Scyrburna (limpidus torren's, or clarus fons). The building is situated on the Castle Eden Road, two and a half miles east of Durham, and is dedicated to " Christ, the Blessed Virgin, Lazarus, Martl^ and Mary." One of the most beautiful and interesting possessions of Sherburn House is the old hospital seal. It depicts Christ standing, a glory around His head ; one hand holds a scroll, with the words " dato et retribuam," while the other supports aloft a crown. Behind is seen the gateway, entering which is a bent and diminutive creature. The inscription reads Sigilium Hospitalis Christi in Sherburne. Notwithstanding some slight damage, this seal is in a good state of preservation and is a singularly beautiful example of the seal- cutter's art. The original order of Sherburn House provided for five convents of lepers (sixty-five persons of both sexes, with a steward at their head), and further provision was made for three priests and four clerks, one of whom was required to be a deacon. " The priests and clerks slept in a chamber or dormitory adjoining the chapel ; and all, together with the steward, dined and supped in the common hall. In winter the priest rose at midnight for the night-mass, but in summer the night-niass was so sung as to terminate at twilight." A perpetual lamp burned before the High Altar of the Presence, in the Greater Chapel. Leper's Chapels were almost invariably detached buildings, totally unconnected with the almshouse, and such was the case at Sherburn, which had, however, two smaller chapels, one of which communicated with the quarters of the inmates. 132 Old English Houses of Alms Daily attendance of the lepers at mass was compulsory. All the inmates whose health permitted were expected to attend Matins, Nones, Vespers and Compline in their separate chapels, but on Sundays and High Festivals, High Mass was celebrated in the Greater Chapel, which was dedicated to " God, Mary Magdalene, and St. Nicholas." During Lent and Advent the lepers received corporal discipline in the chapel, in the presence of their Prior and Prioress respectively — " donee omnes vapulent " (till all are beaten). The general discipline was severe, and disobedient members were punished per ferulem modo Scholarum (with a ferule like boys at school). The food allowance of the lepers is interesting reading, and whatever the faults of the mediaeval system of succouring the sick and infirm, " starvation diet " was not one of them. " The daily allowance of the lepers was a loaf weighing five marks, and a gallon of ale to each ; and betwixt every two, one mess or commons of flesh three days in the week, and of fish, cheese or butter on remaining four. On high festivals a double mess, and in particular, on the feast of St. Cuthbert ; in Lent, fresh salmon, if it could be had, if not, other fresh fish ; and on Michaelmas Day, four messed on a goose. With fresh fish, flesh or eggs, a measure of salt was delivered, the 20th part of a razer ; when fresh fish could not be had, red herrings were served, three to a single mess, or cheese and butter by weight, or three eggs. During Lent, each had a razer of wheat, to make fermenty (Simulam), and two razers of beans to boil. Sometimes greens or onions were provided ; and every day except Sunday, the seventh part of a razer of bean meal ; but on Sunday a measure and half of pulse to make gruel. Red herrings were prohibited from Pente- cost to Michaelmas, at which latter season each received two razers of apples." Many other interesting records relating to the lepers are in existence, from which we learn that in addition to a common kitchen, a cook was provided, also cooking utensils, pots, lavers, pans and ale- vats. The sick were allowed fire and candles; the old woman who attended the sick had perquisites in the shape of wheaten loaves, while, in the event of a brother or sister dying, the grave-digger had the deceased person's meat and drink 133 Old English Houses of Alms for the day. The yearly allowance for clothing was three yards of woollen cloth, white or russet, six yards of linen and six of canvas. " From Michaelmas to All Saints the fuel consisted of two baskets of pieat, and four baskets daily from AH Saints to Easter. Trusses of straw were served on All Saints' Eve and Easter Eve ; and four bundles of rushes on the Eves of Pentecost, St. John Baptist, and St. Mary Magdalene. On the anniversary of Martin de Sancta Cruce, a former master, every leper received five shillings and fivepence in money." When visitors came to Sherburn they were allowed to stay the night at the Hospital. From Miss Clay we learn that the ordinances of early lazar houses show that the theory of contagion had little place in their economy, notwithstanding that the inmates of such hospitals were seldom permitted to frequent the high road except for the purpose of collecting alms, etc. So the order of the Hospital continued until the commencement of the XVth century by which time great abuses had crept in, the revenues being used for private emolument, and in 1429 Bishop Langley applied to the Pope for a new constitution, which was issued in 1434, one of its terms being " that the Master must be in Holy Orders and to him shall pertain the sole management and discipline of the Hospital, subject only to the Bishop." This constitution is interesting as showing that by this time leprosy had almost died out in England, " forasmuch as now few lepers can be found, 1 3 poor persons of good character are to be received and provided with meat and drink, to the value of lod. weekly, and 6s. 8d. yearly for clothing and fuel." In remembrance, however, of the ancient foundation " two lepers are to be received and provided for apart," Si in partibus reperiri poterint, aut sponte illus accesserint (if they are found in the neighbourhood, or voluntarily come there). For fifty years the Hospital seems to have been fairly well managed, but in 1500 the funds were again being diverted from their original purpose, and were main- taining priests and chantry, with no provision whatever for the poor. 134 Sherhijm Hoipikl Old English Houses of Alms The condition of the Hospital at this time is summed up in a report by a Mr. Thomas Trollop to the Surveyor of the King's Durham Land. " There is neither poor man nor poor-woman, neither yet priest nor clerk, nor child, found of the house-charge, saving only two Priests, two clerks, and two children, which the Fermor doth keep by reason of his lease; and all the residue of the revenues of the house goeth altogether to the private use of the Master." Enquiries followed this report, and attempts were made to better the impaired revenues, but no marked improvement took place until 1580, when the position of the Brethren was raised and the finances put on a more solid basis. From this time down to 1735 the foundation ran a quiet and uneventful course, but the Civil war played havoc with the property of the Hospital. " Valuable documents were destroyed, and stocks of cattle and corn consumed by the two armies encamped in the neighbourhood of Sherburn House." Sherburn suffered especially after the battle of Neville's Cross. At this date another constitution was applied for by Bishop Chandler, by which the position of the Brethren was still further defined, and security taken for the better main- tenance of the estate. So much for the old history of the Hospital. The list of Masters, among them some remarkable men, is given in Appendix I. From the foundation of the building in 1181 to 1855 there were forty-four masters in succession, the first being Arnold de Aclent, who was styled " Rector of the House of Lepers." The original building suffered much during the middle of the XIV th century from the ravages of the Scots during their Border raids. The old buttressed wall at the entrance is in great part original, but has been patched and repaired at different periods. The main arch of the entrance gateway is original, as is the vaulting within, and the arched ribs. The inner arch, together with the buttresses, date from the end of the XVIIIth century. The upper walls are quite thin, being built to hide a modern roof which sloped 13'' Old English Houses of Alms from the north and south walls to a gutter between them. Over the gateway is a muni- ment room for the keeping of ancient documents of interest relating to the foundation. The Master's lodge was pulled down in 1833, and re-built "with no pretensions to that architectural beauty which had formerly distinguished it." The Hospital Church contains but little of the original structure. It has been twice burnt down, the second time in 1864, when it was re-built approximately in the original style. The tower, which dates from early in the Xlllth century, escaped with slight damage, but was re-faced and had new mouldings inserted. Three of the windows on the south side are original, as also are the beautiful Decorated sedilia. A small inlaid brass in one of the Chancel steps commemorates the death of Thomas Lever, Master from 156 2- 1577. The Chalice is Elizabethan, and is engraved with the following motto : — " Deale justli for God doth se That Sherborne House owythe me." The foundation is now a large, wealthy, and important charity, which, owing to the establishment of an outside dispensary, is able to relieve the poor who are physically distressed, in a manner somewhat akin to the intentions of the pious founder. 137 St. John's Hospital, Heytesbury The old, and once market town of Heytesbury, situated on the borders of Salisbury Plain, four miles from Warminster, possesses in S. John's Hospital a very interesting charity. The original almshouse was founded by Letters Patent II. Edward IV. (1472) by Walter, Lord Hungerford, Lord High Treasurer of England, and endowed by Margaret, Lady Hungerford and Bottreux, and her son, Walter, with lands at Cheverell, Clinton, etc., in the county of Wilts. The original structure remained standing till 1769, when it was burned down in a great fire that consumed practically the whole of the town. The present hospital, quadrangular in plan, is a pure Georgian building throughout, with the exception of the cellars, which are all that remain of the original edifice. It is probably the largest quadrangular almshouse of Georgian date in the country. The building is approached from the road by steps, whence a grass-bordered walk leads to the main entrance. The building, although rather too much covered with foliage to please the architect, is exceedingly picturesque, whether viewed from the road or from the quadrangular court ; the unambitious and restful nature of the architecture conveying a subtle air of peace and quietude befitting a harbour of refuge for the aged poor. The charity provides for twelve poor men and one woman, who dwell together in a kind of collegiate way. At the head of the establishment is a custos who must always be in Holy Orders, as the founders originally stipulated. 138 J'^ John'/ Mofpttal Meylefbury Wilts. '^19 Almshouses at Milton, Dorset 1674-1780. The old town of Milton (strictly Middletown, as it was the middle town of the county), seven miles south-west of Blandford, was one of the most ancient in Dorset. It grew up with and around the abbey, and contained among other dwellings, four inns, a grammar school, and an almshouse, which last was founded in 1674 by Sir John Tregonwell, for the support of six poor widows. This cluster of buildings lay on the south side of the abbey ch\irch, but the whole town was pulled down about 1780, by Lord Milton, as it was in too close a proximity to the new mansion he was erecting, from designs by Sir William Chambers, in which is incorporated the XVth century monastic infirmary. Having swept away the old town. Lord Milton built, with the materials of the demolished buildings, a new one, which constitutes the present village of Milton. It consists of two rows of cottages ; in the centre of one row are the almshouses (the endowment of which was preserved intact), in the centre of the other row, the church. The almshouses call for no special remarks, save that although the closing years of the XVIIIth century were not particularly prolific in producing good architectural composi- tions, one is glad to have this interesting Dorset example. 140 141 Hospital of SS. John, Sherborne 1437—1866. The old almshouses dedicated to St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist at Sherborne, Dorset, is a venerable institution that is thought to stand on the site of a hospital of the Order of St. Augustine. The present charity was re-founded in 1437 by a license from Henry VI. to Robert Neville, Bishop of Sarum, and others, when provision was to be made for twenty brethren, to be called the Masters of SS. John's House, and a perpetual priest to pray for the good estate and the souls of the founders and inmates. The house was also to contain twelve poor men and four poor women, who were to be governed by a prior, while the lady who attended to the cooking and washing was to be known as the Housewife of SS. John's House. Leland, who visited the Hospital when compiling his Itinerary, writes, " the almshouse stondith yet, but men get most of the land by pecemeales." The older part of the existing building dates from 1448, and includes the chapel, ante-chapel, dining-hall, and dormitories. The chapel is divided from the ante-chapel by a good Perpendicular arch and an ancient oak screen, above which latter is a gallery for the women inmates. The south window has retained fragments of old glass very similar in design to the ancient glass in the adjoining abbey. The altar-piece is a very fine triptych painting of the Flemish School. From the ante-chapel a doorway leads into the street, and until 1866 formed the main entrance to the building. Two bold niches on either side of the external wall of this doorway once contained efligies of the patron saints of thev foundation. The institution now provides for twenty brethren (from whom are elected a master, sub-master, steward and warden), and twenty-seven inmates, eighteen men and nine women. Miss Clay writes, " in memory of St. John Baptist it was usual at Sher- borne for a garland to be hung up on Midsummer Eve at the door of St. John's, which the almsmen watched till morning." As the older portion of this building does not group well from any position, the view selected for illustration shows the east wing, the grea:ter part of which was erected in 1866 from designs by Mr. Slater, the architect who had previously, in 1861, restored and reseated the chapel. 142 Mp^pilnlofSSMn ^.^ Sherborne Dorjet % Sidney Hea/h M3 Appendix LIST OF THE MASTERS OF SHERBURN HOUSE, DURHAM. II84 Arnold de Aclent 1552 Richard Reed. (Master unrecorded). ^553 Anthony Salvayn. 1245 Martin de Sancta Cruce. 1558 Ralph Skymer. 1269 Roger de Leyton. 1562 Thomas Lever. 1302 William de Insula. 1577 Ralph Lever. I3I7 Lambert de Torkyngham. 1584 Valentine Dale. 1329 Thomas de Hessewell. 1589 Robert Bellamy. 1339 Thomas de Neville. 1608 Thomas Murray. 1362 Alan de ShutTlington. 1623 William Shawe. 1367 Thomas de Bernoldby. 1636 John Machon. 1384 John de Waltham. 1643 John Fenwick (usurper). 1388 John de Burgeys, 1654 John Fenwick (son). 1403 Alan de Newark. 1661 John Machon (restored). 1409 John Newton. 1680 John Montague. 1427 Nicholas Dyxson. 1727 Thomas Rundle. 1433 John Marchall. 1735 Wadham Chandler. (Master unknown). ^738 Robert Stillingfleet. 1490 Alexander Lyghe. 1759 David Gregory. I50I Robert Dykar. 1767 Mark Hildesley. 1507 Roderick Gundesalve. 1773 Thomas Dampier. 1522 GeofFry Wren. 1774 Thomas Dampier (son). 1527 Edward Fox. 1809 Andrew Bell. ^535 Thomas Leghe. 1832 George Stanley Faber. 1545 Anthony Bellassis. MASTERS UNDER THE NEW RULE. 1857 Edward Prest. 1 86 1 James Carr. 1874 Henry A. Mitton. 144 Old English Houses of Alms The above list of Masters contains some very remarkable men, among whom not the least was Andrew Bell, some time Rector of Swanage, in Dorset. Before coming to Swanage, he was for some years military chaplain at Madras, subsequently becoming superintendent of the Military Male Orphan Asylum. Under his supervision, the school rapidly increased, and his great difficulty was to find sufficient teachers. This he solved by employing some of the scholars themselves, a course which immediately raised much enthusiasm among the boys. Bell came to England in 1796 on account of his health, and in 1801 became rector of Swanage. Here he started the system which he had inaugurated in Madras, first introducing " pupil teachers " into the Sunday School. This was so successful that he turned his attention to the day schools also, and before long Bell's new system of " pupil teachers " became the feature of many schools in different parts of the country. While at Swanage Dr. Bell introduced straw-plaiting as an employment for the women and children, and at one time, under his guidance, 4,000 to 5,000 hats were made yearly. He was an enthusiast on vaccination, and after successfully vaccinating two of the children at the Rectory, he and his wife performed the operation on many of his parishioners. He was appointed to the mastership of Sherburn Hospital in 1809, ^ P°s* which he held for twenty-three years. On his death he was buried in Westminster Abbey, half- way up the nave, and the inscription, which was written at his own request, reads : — " The author of the Madras system of education." 145 Index of Persons Abbot, Geoi'ge, 23, 28, 92, no. Acleii,t, Arno|ld die, 136. Aldhdm, St., 128. Aldworth, Robert, 98, lOO. Alexandier, Mrs., 122. Alinlgtoln, Lord, 106. Ashcombe, Oliver, 114. B, Beauchamjii, Thomas, 60. Beaufort, Cardinlal, 26, 28, 48, 50, 18. Becket, 32, 35, 46. Beere, Abboit, 23, 74. Benedict, Sit, 17, 18. Beniglnus, St., 74. Benson, Archbishop, 94. Black Prince, 35. Blois, de, 26, 48, 18. Bond, Thomas, 23, 72. Bomifac©, Archbishopi, 46. Bridges, 38, 39. Broiwne, Thomas, 70. Bub with, 23, 104. Burghersh, Henry, de, 68. Burghley, Thomas, 68. Butterfield, 108. Campeideni, John de, 26, 52. Cassian, 20. Chambers:, Robert, 98. Chambers, William, 140. Charles I., no. Chaucer, Geoffrey, 56. Chaucer, Maud, 58. Chaucer, Thomas, 58. Chetham, Sjr Humphr-ey, 25. Chichele, Hieniy, 26, 53, 54. Chichester, WiUiam, Dean, of, 42. Clay, Miss Rotha May, 19, 21, 32, 34, 53, 70, 84, 134, 142. Clopton, Sir Hugh, 66. Cobham, Ladiy Margairet dte, 26. Colet, Dean, 35. Colston, Edward, 100. Coningsby, Sir Thomas, 24, 102. Cornwall, Speaker, 52. Courtenay, Archbishop, 46. Coiurtenay family, 26, 78, 126. Crosby, Sir John, 26, 27. Cure, Thomas, 27. D. Day, Sir Thomas, 100. Derby, Earls of, 25. Dickens, Charles, 88, 90. Dorset, Earl of, 108. Dudley, Robert, 26, 62. Dugidale, 64, 80, 81. Durer, Albert, no. Eadlmer, 32. Edward HI., 46. IV., 138, 70, 126. VI., 21, 26, 27, 28, 84. Edyridon, William de, 50. Elizabeth, 27, 42, 72, 92, 94. Erasmus, 35, 36. Evelyn, 98. F. Fitzwilliam, Earl, 54. Ford, William, 72, 80. Freeman', A. E., 53. Fuller, Thoinas, 76. G. Gaunt, John of, 44. Gaunt, Maurice d'e, 26. Goddard, William, 23, 28, 96. Gray, Robert, 118. Greenway, John aiid Joan, 23, 26, 86. Gresham, Sir Thomas, 27. Greville, Fulke, 64. i46 INDEX OF PERSONS— continued. H. Hall, John, 26, 128. Halliday, Susan, 124. Halliday, William, 124. Hardy, Thoimas, 116. Henry IV., 104. „ VI., 19, 39, 56, 58, 142. „ VII., 28. „ VIII., 38, 44, 57. Heriot, 19. Hodgson, Sir Arthur, 66. Hood, Nathl., 88. Hungerford family, 23, 26, 122 — 126, 138. Hutcliins, 118. Innocent IV., Pope, 44. Iscanus, Bartholomew, 21. J- James I., 57, 64, 81. Jamies, St., 19, 60. Jansen, 112. John, King, 48. „ King of Franoe, 35. „ St., 38. K. Kempe, Sir Nicholas, no. King, 52. Lambe, Ralph, 28. Lancaster, Duke of, 26. Lanfranc, 30, 34. Langley, Bishop, 134. Langtoin, Stephen, 26. Laud, 1 10. Law, Chancellor, 76. Lee, William, 84. Lelaiid, 38, 58, 70, 142. Lemon, Mark, 90. Lever, Thomas, 137. Liacoln, Bishop of, 38. Lincoln, Earl of, 57. Little, Francis, 84. M. Manning, Cardinal, 40. Manvers, Earl, 120. Mary Magdalene, St., 74. Mary, Queen, 27. Mason, Sir John, 28, 84. Methuen, Lord, 122. Milton, Lord, 140. Mohun family, 126. Monmouth, Duke of, no. Morden, Lady, 28. Morden, Sir John, 24, 27. Moulton, Horatio, 128. Mulls family, 126. N. Napier, Sir Robert, 106. Napper, see Napier. Neville^ Robert, 142. Newton, Sir Henry, 98. Northampton, Lord, 38. Norton] family, 98. Norton, Sjmon, 80, 81. Orange, Richard, 21. O. P. Parker, W. H., 74. Ptenrose, John, 112. Peverels, 124, 125. Pitsford, Henry, 81. Pitsford, William, 80, 81. Pole, Alice de la, 26, 56, 58. Pole, William de la, 56—58. Poore, Richard, 20. Pudsey, Hugh, 132. R. Radnor, Earl, 122, 126. Ragdale, Owen, 26, 90. Rahere, 26. Redvers, de, 78. Richard I., 48. Roger, Bishop, 76. Rogers, W. H., 125. Row, Sir Henry, 124. Russell, John, 68. 147 INDEX TO VERSONS— continued. Sancte, Clere, William, 38. Sandwich, Hfipry de, 26. Sawyer, Edward, 90. Scott, Oldrid, 94. Sexey, Hugh, 30. Slater, Mr., 142. Slee, William, 86. Smith, W. F,, 130. Smyth. William, 23, 76. Still, Bishop, 23, 104. Stoke, Thomas, 70. Stow, 92. Strangle family, 126. Strode, Sir Johni, 116. Sudbury, Archbishop;, 60. Sutton, Thomas, 25. Synsbterg', Sir John, 56. Theoidore of Canterbury, 17. Toclyve, Bishop, 48. Tompkins, Benjamin, 130. Tompkins, Joseph, 130. TregonWell, John, 26, 140. TroUope, Thomas, 136. Turner, 39. W. Waldron, John, 23, 26, 86. Walkter, Frdderick, 96. Walter, Archdeacon, 38. Warwick, Guy, Earl of, 36. Watts, Richard, 88, 90. Westcote, 86. Wheatley, Thomas, 72. Wliitgift, John, 23, 93, 94. Wigston, William, 8i. William I., 34. Williams, Lx)ird Keeper, no Wordsworth, 116. Wyatt, 125, 126. Wykeham, William of, 53, 74, Z. Zouch, Lord, 1 10. 148 THE DIARY OP JOHN BURCHARD OF STRASBURG, Bishop of Orta and Civita Castellana Pontifical Master of Ceremonies to their Holinesses Sixtus P.P. iv., Innocent P.P. viii., Alexander P.P. vi., Pius P.P. iii., and Julius P.P. ii., A.D, 1843— 1506. Translated from the Original Latin, with an Introduction, Notes, and Appendices by Arnold Harris Mathew. With over 100 Full-page Illustrations. In Three Volumes. Royal 8vo, ;^3 3s. net, (Vol. I. now ready, price 21/- net.) In his introduction to this, -the first appearance in English of the most valuable work we possess upon the History of the Borgias, the author says : — " The notoriety of the Borgias is, to some extent, shared by Bishop John Burchard, one of the most trustworthy and the best abused of their chroniclers. Biassed authors have rashly and wantonly accused this exact and methodical ceremoniarius of adopting the role of Procopius, who, in his Anecdota, exposed the gross villainies of the Court of Justinian. So false an estimate of the value of Bishop Burchard's record has necessitated the publication of his Diary in its entirety, in order that its value may be more justly appreciated. " Burchard was a precise, pedantic, automatic and impassive clerk of the Pontifical Court, an irreproachable rubrician and liturgical scholar, who carefully recorded from day to day, with no expression of sentiment, everything that came under his observation. " In him the characteristics of a Macaulay were absent, and in this respect he differed from Infessura, his contemporary and perhaps his friend, with whom he has often been confused. Infessura, the enemy of the popes and of the civil authority, pours forth on every page the burning indignation experienced by an Italian and a patriot ; and even when, as in his bitter criticisms, his violent passion defeats its own purpose, one is ready to excuse him and to recognise in him the last survivor of the free republican traditions of Rome. The German, Burchard, is on an altogether different type, and is left undisturbed by any such impulses. The absence of passion from his work, however, need not be regretted, in that it is, in a sense, a guarantee of his absolute impartiality." " English reading students of the history of the papacy will accord a hearty welcome to this erudite and valuable rendering of a work of the first importance." — Scotsman. " Dr. Mathew has done his work of translation well. . . . The book is most hand- somely printed and very well illustrated." — Pall Mall Gazette. " This record is the most valuable we possess of the history of the Popes from the end of the fifteenth century to the beginning of the sixteenth.- ... Dr. Mathew champions the diarist, whose work he has so laboriously and ably translated."— G^/o^^. THE ROMANCE OF SYMBOLISM, and its relation to Church Ornament and Architecture. By Sidney Heath. With numerous Illustrations. Foolscap 4to, cloth, 7s. 6d. net. This is an attempt to arrange in a simple form and in a few easily accessible pages the principles of Christian symbolism as depicted on the large fabric and the minor details of our churches and cathedrals. The author's aim has been to compile and arrange information respecting the symbolical origin and development of what is called ecclesiastical ornament, and has dealt only with its purely artistic or architectural qualities in so far as is necessary for the complete revelation of its religious function. The author remarks in his preface : " If there be one topic among the vast multitude of interesting themes, which, rather than any other, might be selected as typical of the individual and national mind of the middle ages, it is, I think, that of symbolism, represented in the secular life by a love of heraldry, tradesmen's signs, rebuses, and monograms, and in religious life by the plain ornaments and details of our cathedrals, abbeys and churches. In mediaeval days everything savoured of symbolism." " It is to systematically examine and interpret this half-forgotten and still imperfectly understood ' romance of symbolism ' that Mr. Heath sets himself, and his book .^ . . should prove a help and inspiration to those who are entering upon this fascinating study." — Scotsman. " The pages are a mine of curious lore, calculated to appeal not only to the man of fervent religion, but to all who have any interest in the growth of religious ideas, and in that past when the people learned from symbolical designs what they now learn from books. It is enthusiastic, but at the same time judicious." — Dundee Advertiser, London: FRANCIS GRIFFITHS, 34, Maiden Lane, Strand, W.C. There is no more welcome aid to the enjoyment of a holiday in foreign lands, and no better companion, than a well-written and well-illustrated travel book. IMPRESSIONS OF PROYENCE. By Percy Allen, Author of "Songs of Old France." Fully Illustrated with line and wash drawings by LEOPOLD Lelee and Marjorie Nash. Foolscap quarto, 1 2s. 6d. net, by post, 1 3s. Mr. Allen brings to his description of the most romantic district in France, a close observation, and all the sympathy necessary for the full appreciation of the charms of a land of sun and song. He deals fully, not only with the ancient cities and with the Graeco-Roman monuments of old Provence, but also with the less frequented, though not less attractive, corners of the country, and gives the reader vivid impressions of life in the Camargue — the salt-encrusted waste of the Rhone delta — where the black bulls and the white horses roam, and where, around the semi-African village of Les Saintes Maries de la Mer, the rosy flamingoes stand, like sentinels, beside the ^tang. The book treats also of the annual religious fetes in honour of the Saints of Provence — Saint Gens, Saint Bdn6zet, Saint Martha, and the Holy Maries — and tells their legendaiy life-stories. Indeed, the charming legends of Provence, given fully — some of them for the first time, so far as the publisher is aware — are a feature of the work. Many incidents and experiences, illustrative of the national life, are included ; all told with a keen sense of character. The author describes, also, two visits to provencal poets in their own homes, to Frederick Mistral, and to the peasant translator of Homer — Charloun Rieu. In the chapter on Avignon — the home of the Felibres — many Troubadour tales are told. The provencal sport of bull-baiting — both the local innocuous variety, and the deadly Spanish " Corrida," are fully and vividly described. Extracts from a few of the many favourable Reviews. " Travel books of this nature are justified or otherwise as they give us pleasure or bore u s Mr. Allen gives pleasure. . . . He tells us how the country and the people strike a sentimental traveller who brings to the adventure a good deal of knowledge of local history and a good deal of good temper. . . . The result is a book which charms and entices." — The Times. " We might call this book ' A Sentimental Journey,' nor would Mr. Allen, we imagine, refuse an association with Laurence Sterne, only, it must be understood, there is none of the doubtful flavour of which we are sometimes conscious, even when Sterne is at his best. . . . Altogether this is a very delightful volume. The illustrations, by Leopold Lelee and Marjorie Nash, quite justify their name. . . ." — Spectator. SHADOWS OP OLD PARIS. By G. Duval. Fully Illustrated by J. Gavin, in colour' wash and line drawings. Foolscap quarto, price 12s. 6d. net. The object and scope of this work, which will interest all lovers of Old Paris, is best given by a quotation from the Author's Introduction. " Among the crowds of idlers and pleasure-seekers, of students even, who make the French capital temporarily their home, there are few lovers of tradition curious enough to turn from the dazzling modern city of pleasure, and plunge into the dingy Paris of the past, itself a town within a town. . . . Along the quais some of the older houses yet remain ; in the streets adjoining, slumbering amid gardens, lie the stately homes of the nobility, a few still occupied by the great families who have inhabited them for generations. . . . The whole story of France is written on the walls of Paris; and to a student of history, what is more passionately eloquent, what more enigmatic and mysterious, than those silent stones ? Daily, hourly, the destroying pickaxe is busily at work. It must be so. It would be folly to sacrifice the lives and health of thousands to the sentiment of the antiquary. Yet it is a world of strange interest and beauty that is passing so rapidly. . . . Can we watch it crumbling to ashes without a feeling of sorrowful regret ? As it disappears for ever from view, we would hold these vanishing shadows in a picture." A HISTORY OF RHODESIA. Compiled from Official Sources, By Howard Hensman. With a map. Crown 8vo. Price 6s. "We would not forgo any portion of Mr. Hensman's work. ... It is very fair, surprisingly so, if we tal^e the nearness of the events which he relates, and the style and the treatment are intended to be without bias. This is an extremely difficult performance, yet Mr. Hensman seems to have achieved it." London : FRANCIS GRIFFITHS, 34, Maiden Lane, Strand, W.C. ENGLISH CHURCH ARCHITECTURE. From the Earliest Times to the Reformation. By G. A. T. MiDDLETON, A.R.I.B.A. Crown 8vo, 2s. 6d. net. This book is profusely illustrated by many well-executed Sketches and Measured Draw- ings, which heighten its appeal to the Architect. It is especially useful to young students at the commencement of their career, but also contains many suggestions which are of interest to older men also, as well as to the general public. Throughout the whole long period of the Middle Ages, England was the only country in Europe which was blessed with a long sustained peace, the only one in which life was safe in village communities. Elsewhere the people lived almost wholly in walled towns ; here an agricultural population lived in open hamlets, each of which was served for religious purposes by its own separate church, which was altered or added to from time to time as circumstances dictated. Thus English Church Architecture has at all times been most intimately connected with the social life history of the English race, displaying, as a rule, a series of gradual and sequential changes, strikingly analogous to those which take place in a man's character as he passes steadily onward from childhood to old age — always the same at heart, yet influenced occasionally from outside, and always developing. So human is it, that one almost discerns the faltering steps of infancy in the early Saxon efforts, gradually taking form until the great upheaval of the Norman invasion brought sudden manhood with it. Then, after a short period of sturdy independence, during which the roughness of the headstrong youth gave way to certain refining influences, came the great architectural marriage, which we call the development of the Gothic style, symbolising the commingling of the Norman and the English races ; and from this time forward the architectural life flowed smoothly, adding grace to grace, until, when symptoms of senility began to show themselves, the end came in the Reformation. This, or something like it, is what every English country church has got to tell, but each one tells the tale a little differently from all others, with different episodes and happenings at different dates. Without pretending to be exhaustive, this little book has been produced with the object of showing how some of the more easily read indications of change may be discerned, and in the hope that many who venerate the churches of their forefathers may come to do so with a fuller understanding of the wealth of history which their old stones can tell. " This little book is useful as a first aid to the study of our English mediaeval architecture by the amateur, or even the youthful professional student. . . . While he does not attempt to teach everything about English Gothic, what he does teach is put clearly and simply, so that his reader will know something, and that something worth knowing." — Architect. "An excellent little handbook." — Scotsman. " A delightful essay upon the growth of ecclesiastical architecture in England." — Catholic Herald. A New Work on the Cathedrals of England. OUR ENGLISH CATHEDRALS. By the Rev. James Sibree. Fully Illustrated by Photo- graphs and Block Plans. In Two Volumes. Crown 8vo., 5 s. net each. Ready shortly. "The Author has, therefore, thought that there was still room for a book on these wonderful creations of our ancestors' skill and genius, on somewhat different lines from those taken by previous works on the subject." To those who have neither time nor inclination for a minutely detailed examination, the author trusts that this book may be of service ; and " he is not without hope that it may also prove to be of interest to those who, in our own country, or in our Colonies, or in the United States, may wish to have, in a brief and compact form, a sketch of English Cathedrals on the whole." The book, however, is neither scrappy nor meagre. The buildings are adequately described, building dates and historical notes are given. There is a chapter upon the signifi- cance and growth of Gothic Architecture, upon references to the Cathedrals in English Literature (including many quotations), and also upon the relation of our Cathedrals to the life of to-day. The work is complete and thoroughly readable. London : FRANCIS GRIFFITHS, 34, Maiden Lane, Strand, W.C. THE WESSEX OF ROMANCE. A New and Revised Edition of a Work of Value and Interest to all Lovers of Country Life and Literature. By WILKINSON Sherren. Containing several new Illustrations. Price 6s. net. By post, 6s. 4d. Upon its first publication, " The Wessex of Romance," was at once recognised as a work of no ephemeral character. It formed the basis of leading articles in the Standard and The Manchester Guardian, and was accorded lengthy and eulogistic reviews in many other important papers. The whole of the work has been brought up to date and carefully revised, while new and interesting matter has been introduced, together with fresh illustrations of scenes endeared to all lovers of Wessex. Great pains have been taken in making the appearance of the book worthy of the contents, the whole of the matter having been re-set in good type, the format chosen making the volume, as an example of book making, worthy of taking its place on any library shelf. "Another stimulant to imagination." — George Meredith. " I think it a very good book." — -/. M. Barrie. " A picture of the life of the people of the South and South- West England, which is quite worthy to stand by itself and to be read for its own intrinsic interest." — The Outlook. "Apart from Mr. Hardy there is not a work of fiction that can give one quite the atmosphere of Wessex peasant life that Mr. Wilkinson Sherren manages to convey into his pages of fact." — St. Jameses Gazette. " All that anyone can care or need to know about the originals of the scenes and personages of Mr. Hardy's novels he will find here." — Truth. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF HILDEBRAND (Pope Gregory VII.). By the Right Rev. Arnold Harris Mathew, D.D. Illustrated. Foolscap 4to., 12s. 6d. net. "Si je n'etais NapoHon je voudrais 6tre Gr^goire VII. " Napoleon, after Austerlits." Bishop Mathew has brought to this new work upon the Napoleon of the Church all the wide learning, research, and literary skill which have raised him to a high place among the historians of Italy. '■ Under Gregory VII. the struggle between the Empire and the Papacy took an acute form. Not content with claiming for the Church an entire independence from the temporal power, he declared that the independence of the Church was to be found solely in the assertion of its supremacy over the State. ... In political matters he asserted that the name of the Pope was incomparable with any other, that to him alone belonged the right to use the insignia of Empire, that he could depose emperors, and all princes ought to kiss his feet ; that he could release subjects from their allegiance to wicked rulers. Such were Gregory's tremendous claims for the Papacy." — Extract from Author's Introduction. " It would be easy to draw a parallel between Puritanism in the Reformed Churches and Ultramontanism in the Roman Church. Both have been narrowing and possessed the vehemence that commonly goes with narrowness ; to both the interior contradiction which they embody and the facts of human nature with which they come into conflict have been fatal : they are of the number of the ' little systems ' which ' have their day.' But in their day they were powerful, both for good and for evil ; and their representatives must be judged historically by the requirements and standards of their time." — Nation. " From every point of view the work is well done. Dr. Mathew reduces to order a mass of obscure names, disentangles the essential from the irrelevant and the untrustworthy, and brings out clearly, for the benefit of the uninstructed reader, the vital facts of Gregory's life with the accuracy and discrimination that distinguishes the scholar from the book-maker. The attractiveness of the volume is increased by the interesting prints and photographs with which it is illustrated." — Morning Post. " To his account of this Napoleon of the Church, Bishop Mathew has brought the wide research, the independence of judgment, and the literary skill which have already raised him to a high place among the historians of Italy." — Scotsman. London : FRANCIS GRIFFITHS, 34, Maiden Lane, Strand, W.C.