A HISTORY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE 



HOSPITALS 



31. THE HOSPITAL OF ST. MARK, 

 BILLESWICK, CALLED GAUNT'S 

 HOSPITAL 1 



Maurice de Gaunt, great-grandson of Robert 

 Fitzharding, 8 built an almonry in Billeswick and 

 entrusted the administration of his charity to the 

 monastery of St. Augustine's, Bristol. 3 On 

 condition of a yearly gift of 60 loads of corn, of 

 beans, and of peas, and a rental of jio, the abbot 

 and convent undertook to feed one hundred poor 

 people in the almonry each day and to maintain 

 a chaplain. 4 In his will 6 Maurice de Gaunt 

 provided a permanent endowment for the 

 almonry, consisting of the manor of Poulet in 

 Somersetshire, several mills, and rents in Bristol. 6 

 After his death on 30 April, 1230,' 'his nephew 

 and heir,' Robert de Gurnay, confirmed the 

 endowment, 8 and in 1232 Henry III confirmed 

 the possessions of the master of the almonry of 

 Billeswick, which also included the manor of 

 Stokeland, the gift of Andrew Lutterel. 9 Robert 

 de Gurnay made the hospital a separate founda- 

 tion, independent of the monastery of St. Augus- 

 tine, with a master and three chaplains as a 

 governing body. 10 He granted that on the death 

 of the master the administration of the property 

 should be in the hands of the three chaplains ; 

 they might elect one of themselves or some other 



1 The chief hospitals in Bristol are given below. 

 Besides these Trinity Hospital was (Dugdale, Man. vii, 

 774) founded about 1417 by John Barstaple, a mer- 

 chant and burgess, for six poor men and six poor women 

 and a priest to officiate for them. It was granted by 

 Queen Elizabeth to the mayor and corporation and 

 has had a continuous existence. St. Margaret's 

 Hospital is mentioned by Leland. Lyon's Hospital 

 is said to have been founded under Canning's will ; 

 almshouses of the old endowment are maintained in 

 St. James's parish. The almshouses on St. Michael's 

 Hill were founded in 1504 by John Foster for a 

 priest, eight poor men, and five poor women. The 

 hospital of St. John the Baptist by Bristol for lepers, 

 and the hospital of St. Katherine in the manor of 

 Bedminster, were in the county of Somerset and the 

 diocese of Bath and Wells. 



* Smyth, Lives of the Berkeley! (Maclean), i, 20. 



* Jeayes, Catalogue of Muniments of Lord Fitz- 

 hardinge at Berkeley Castle, 78. 



4 Ibid. 



6 Red Book of St. Augustine's, Bristol, Berkeley Castle 

 MSS. fol. 206 v. 



6 Tanner, Notitia Monastica (ed. 1744), 482. 



7 Smyth, Lives of the Berkeleys, \, 26. 



8 Cal. Chart. R. 17 Hen. Ill, m. 15 ; Mm. vii, 

 687. 



' Cal. Chart. R. 17 Hen. Ill, m. 15. 



10 Wore. Epis. Reg. Giffard (Wore. 1 Hist. Soc.), 18. 

 One of the witnesses, William of Blois, bishop of 

 Worcester, died 1236. The charter was probably 

 granted before 1232 ; cf. notes 8 and 9. 



person as master, and present him to Robert de 

 Gurnay or his heirs, by whom he would be 

 presented to the bishop of Worcester. 11 He 

 decided that the daily allowance of each poor 

 person should be bread of the weight of 451. and 

 oatmeal pottage. 13 He provided for twelve poor 

 scholars to be admitted and removed at the will 

 of the master, who would be bound to be present 

 in choir at the services in black copes and 

 surplices, under the control of one of their 

 number who should know how to discipline and 

 teach the others. 13 The abbot and convent of 

 St. Augustine's resented the modification of the 

 founder's will, which deprived them of the 

 control of the hospital, and carried their claims 

 before civil and ecclesiastical courts. 14 A settle- 

 ment was effected in I25I. 15 The abbot and 

 convent of St. Augustine's recognized the inde- 

 pendence of the master and brethren of 

 St. Mark's and their right to free burial within 

 their walls. They renounced their claims in 

 the manor of Poulet, and the master and brethren 

 of St. Mark's agreed to pay tithes within the 

 bounds of the parish of Poulet and Were. Both 

 parties agreed to refer any subsequent disputes 

 to the bishop of Worcester. In 1259 ^ey 

 called upon him to settle the question of rights 

 of pasture on the land between their houses, 16 and 

 Bishop Cantilupe judged it to be the burial 

 ground of St. Augustine's, but decided that 

 neither of them should pasture their cattle upon 

 it. The possessions of the hospital, both by gift 

 and purchase, steadily increased. In 1247 

 Henry III granted rights of free warren in 

 Poulet and Stokeland, 17 and in 1257 tne privilege 

 of holding a yearly fair in the manor of Poulet 

 on the vigil, feast, and morrow of St. John the 

 Baptist. 18 In 1259 t* 16 hospital had acquired the 

 manors of Herdicote and La Lee, lands in Bruham, 

 a mill at Langford, rents in Bristol, and the 

 advowsons of Stokeland and Quantoxhead. 18 In 

 that year a new constitution, framed on that of 

 the hospital of St. John the Baptist at Lechlade, 

 was drawn up by Walter Cantilupe, bishop of 

 Worcester, with the consent of Robert de 

 Gurnay and his uncle Henry de Gaunt, the 

 master of the hospital. 20 It provided, besides the 



11 Dugdale, Man. vii, 688. Ibid. 



13 Wore. Epis. Reg. Giffard (Wore. Hist. Soc.), 15. 



14 Red Book of St. Augustine's, Berkeley Castle MSS. 

 fol. 206 v. 



15 Ibid. fol. 206 v. 207. " Ibid. fol. 209 p. 



17 Cal. Chart. R. 3 1 Hen. Ill, m. 4. 



18 Ibid. 41 Hen. Ill, m. 4. 



19 Wore. Epis. Reg. Giffard (Wore. Hist. Soc.), 15. 

 * Ibid. 15-18. It occurs also Cant. Archiepis. Reg. 



Winchelsey, fol. 81-82 ; for the brief following sum- 

 mary, and where differences occur, the Lambeth MS. 

 has been followed. 



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