A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



three times a week, repair and sustain the build- 

 ings, and support the rest of the hospital duties as 

 of old accustomed.^ 



On four different occasions in the first half of 

 the fourteenth century we read of indulgences 

 granted to this small lazar-house for the con- 

 struction or repair of its hospital or chapel, by 

 Bishop Dalderby in 1304,' and Bishop Burg- 

 hersh in 1320, 132 1, and 1332.8 No further 

 references of a later date relative to this hospital 

 have been discovered. 



37. THE HOSPITAL OF ST. JOHN 

 BAPTIST AND ST. THOMAS THE 

 MARTYR, STAMFORD 



At the south, or Northamptonshire, end of the 

 bridge of Stamford, stood the hospital of St. John 

 Baptist and St. Thomas the Martyr. It was 

 founded towards the end of the reign of Henry II. 

 by Siward, Brand de Fossato, Richard de Humet, 

 and Bertram de Verdun, all of whom are named 

 in the confirming charter of Richard I., cited in 

 an inspection grant of Henry III.* The 

 hospital was, as was usual with such institutions, 

 on the confines of a town, for the double purpose 

 of relieving poor strangers as they passed by 

 with beer, meat, and lodging, and for the con- 

 stant subsistence of certain of the local poor.s 



King Richard, on 21 April, 11 90, when at 

 Samur in Normandy, confirmed to this hospital, 

 first the site of the ground whereon it was built ; 

 secondly, the house and chapel founded by 

 Siward ; thirdly, the lands and possessions given 

 by Brand de Fossato ; and, lastly, the meadow 

 at the south end of the bridge, given by Richard 

 de Humet and Bertram de Verdun for the build- 

 ing of a church with a churchyard.^ 



A final concord was entered into in 11 94 be- 

 tween Akard, brother of this hospital, and the 

 abbot of Peterborough, concerning the advowson, 

 etc., of the church. Akard, on behalf of the 

 prior and brethren, recognized that the lordship 

 and advowson of the hospital pertained to the 

 abbot and convent of Peterborough, with the 

 assent of the palmers of the town of Stamford, 

 by whose alms the hospital was sustained. The 

 charters of the hospital were to be placed by the 

 brethren and palmers in a chest in the hospital, 

 under two locks, one to be kept by the abbot, and 

 the other by the prior of the hospital. They were 

 not to alienate anything without the abbot's 

 assent. The brethren were to make profession 

 in the abbey church to the abbot, saving the 

 right of a silver mark annually to the nuns of 



1 Cott. MS. Vesp. E. xxii. f. 77b. 



2 Line. Epis. Reg. Memo, of Dalderby, f. 6^d. 



3 Ibid. Memo, of Burghersh, ff. 24, 45, 247. 

 * Chart. R. 33 Hen. III. m. 2. 



5 Peck, Annah of Stamford, v. 11. 



6 Ibid. vi. 8, 9. 



St. Michael, as an acknowledgement of the benefit 

 of cemetery rights.^ 



William Humet, constable of Normandy and 

 lord of Stamford, was a benefactor to this hospital 

 in the reign of John.s 



The hospital became subject to the great 

 monastery of Peterborough, in whose hands the 

 appointment of the master rested. In the con- 

 firmation grant to that abbey of all their posses- 

 sions in 1227, Henry III. confirmed to it all 

 the lands, mills, churches, etc., on ' this side ' the 

 bridge of Stamford, making particular mention of 

 this hospital.' In the same year the king granted 

 the master of this hospital 20 loads of dead wood 

 for his hearth, out of the wood of Duddington. 

 This grant was repeated in 1229, when the 

 master was termed a prior.^" 



The appointment of Hugh de Sancto Martino 

 as master was confirmed by the bishop in 1294." 

 In April, 1299, Hugh de Clisseby,!^ master of the 

 hospital of St. John Baptist and St. Thomas of 

 Canterbury, at the bridge foot, held also the 

 vicarage of All Saints, Stamford. The house had 

 been reduced to such poverty by his mis- 

 management that he petitioned Abbot William of 

 Woodford for leave to resign. His resignation was 

 not accepted, but he was temporarily suspended, 

 and the custody of the hospital was assigned to 

 Robert, rector of the church of Northbury, who 

 was to endeavour, with the counsel of Hugh, to 

 put the house in a more flourishing state. In 

 August of the same year Hugh was restored to 

 the mastership, and the books, jewels, and other 

 effects of the house, in the chamber, hall, cellar, 

 kitchen, and bakehouse, formally re-delivered to his 

 custody. ^8 



Soon after Hugh de Clisseby was re-admitted to 

 the wardenship Abbot William died, and was 

 succeeded by Abbot Godfrey of Crowland. The 

 new abbot soon had cause of complaint against 

 the master ; he was charged with neglecting to 

 say mass in the chapel ; with giving very incon- 

 siderable alms to the poor and strangers ; with 

 subtracting half a mark from the salary of Robert 

 Wodefoul, a lay brother, whose business it was 

 to relieve the sick and poor under the master. 

 He was also accused of retrenching the lamps of 

 the chapel and the lights of the house, and of 

 either selling, giving away, or suffering himself 

 to be tricked out of certain valuable relics per- 

 taining to the hospital. The chapel was in a 

 scandalous condition, and various rooms intended 

 for the sick and poor travellers were locked up 

 and turned into store-rooms for the warden's 



7 See. of Antiq. MSS. Ix. f. 151b. 



8 Peck, Annals of Stamford, vii. 11. 



9 Chart. R. II Hen. III. pt. I, m. 19. 



10 Close, 12 Hen. III. m. 15; 14 Hen. III. 

 m. 20. 



11 Line. Epis. Reg. Memo, of Sutton, f. 112. 



12 Probably the same as Hugh de Sancto Martino. 



13 Cott. MS. Vesp. E. xxii. ff. 30, 41. 



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