RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



43. THE HOSPITAL OF ST. JOHN 

 THE BAPTIST, LECHLADE 



The hospital of St. John the Baptist at Lech- 

 lade was founded in or before 1246 by Isabella 

 de Mortimer. 1 She endowed it with land at the 

 head of Lechlade Bridge, the bridge, chapel, and 

 a mill. In 1246 the property of the hospital 

 was confirmed by Henry III to be held in free 

 alms. 1 The community seems to have con- 

 sisted, according to the ordinance of the founda- 

 tior, of seven priests of the order of St. Augus- 

 tine, of whom one was prior or master, and a 

 number of lay brothers and sisters to minister to 

 the poor and sick, both men and women, who 

 came to the hospital. 



In 1252 tjie manor of Lechlade was granted 

 to Richard ea/1 of Cornwall, who thus became 

 the patron of the hospital.* Before 1255 nc an< ^ 

 his wife Sanchia granted to the priests who 

 served it the right of electing their prior or 

 master, and endowed the hospital with the 

 advowson of the parish church, retaining how- 

 ever the right of presenting to the vicarage. 4 



In the visitation of the diocese of Worcester 

 which took place in 1290 and 1291, Bishop 

 Giffard deputed one of his clerks, by name 

 Nigel le Waleys, to visit the hospital. He 

 fulfilled his office on 1 1 January, 1291,' and 

 reported a most unsatisfactory state of affairs to 

 the bishop. The services were neglected, regular 

 discipline was not observed, and the administra- 

 tion was wasteful. On 17 February Giffard 

 sent a mandate for the reform of the hospital.* 

 He decreed that according to the will of the 

 founders seven priests should perform the daily 

 services, and that the prior and all the brethren 

 should be present at the hours unless prevented 

 by some honest cause. Silence was to be ob- 

 served in church, dorter, frater, and cloister. 

 Among the brethren there should be uniformity 

 in dress ; the sisters should have a suitable dress 

 and take their food in the places assigned to 

 them. As the vice of gluttony prevailed among 

 them, neither brothers nor sisters should presume 

 to eat or drink except at stated hours and places, 

 unless they were ill or engaged in the service of 

 the house ; nor should they go beyond the 

 precincts without leave. As hospitality ought to 

 be observed with charity and cheerfulness, one 

 kind and courteous brother was to be chosen to 

 entertain guests, and another to receive the sick. 

 The prior was bidden to render an exact account 

 of the financial position of the house. Under 

 pain of eternal damnation the bishop forbade that 

 any possessions or rents given for the special use 



1 Cat. of Chart. R. 30 Hen. Ill, ra. 6. 

 ' Ibid. 



1 Ibid. 36 Hen. Ill, m. 10. 



4 Ibid. 39 Hen. Ill, m. 8 ; Dugdale, Mm. viii, 

 684. 



Wore. Efts. Reg. Giffard (Wore. Hist. Soc.), 381. 



Ibid. 391. 



of the poor and sick should be diverted to any 

 other object. In 1 300 matters were no better, 

 and in January an inquisition into the state 

 and condition of the hospital was held in 

 the parish church. 7 The jurors declared that 

 the prior had withdrawn several of the priests 

 and expelled them and a number of lay brothers 

 and sisters, also that he had alienated various 

 lands and goods belonging to the hospital, in- 

 cluding the books and ornaments of the church, 

 but there is no evidence of the steps taken to 

 restore order. 



The maintenance of the bridge was a charge 

 upon the hospital, and in 1338* and again in 

 1341 'Edward III granted the right of taking 

 tolls for a term of three years in aid of the 

 repairs. 



On 21 October, 1351, Bishop Thoresby sent 

 a commission to Henry de Neubold, his vicar- 

 general, and William Poty, the vicar of Lech- 

 lade, to punish Brother Ralph of Tetbury for 

 laying violent hands on the brothers summoned 

 before the bishop at his visitation of the hos- 

 pital. 10 On 26 February, 1352, he appointed 

 two commissioners to inquire into the excesses 

 and defects of the hospital, to make corrections, 

 and if necessary to remove the prior from office. 11 

 He had heard that the prior and brethren had 

 put aside their habit and were going about as 

 chaplains, celebrating masses and getting salaries, 

 and they may perhaps have so acted under 

 pressure of poverty. Later in that year the 

 prior desired to be released from his office, 

 because he wished to live a life of contempla- 

 tion. 11 In or about 1374 Bishop William 

 de Lynn attempted to reform the hospital. He 

 found at his visitation that Prior Stephen of 

 Newbury had diminished the services, wasted 

 and defiled the goods of the house, and had led 

 a dissolute life. 1 * However, Stephen ignored the 

 bishop's injunctions, and on 22 March, 1375, 

 during the vacancy of the see, the prior of 

 Worcester sent a mandate to the dean of Fair- 

 ford and all rectors and vicars of that deanery 

 to denounce him as excommunicate, and to 

 summon him to appear before the prior or his 

 commissary in the cathedral church of Worcester 

 to receive condign punishment. 14 On 31 Octo- 

 ber he resigned. 11 On 10 November, 1384, 

 when in the course of his metropolitical visitation 

 Courtenay, archbishop of Canterbury, came to 

 Lechlade, he found that the title of the prior, 

 Richard Smyth, was defective. The right of 

 presentation therefore fell to the archbishop, and 

 on account of the upright character of the 



' Ibid. 537. 



1 Cal. of Pat. 12 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 6. 



I Ibid, i 5 Edw. Ill, pt. ii, m. 7. 



" Wore. Epis. Reg. Thoresby, fol. 35. 



II Ibid. fol. 49. " Ibid. fol. 5 1 d. 



" Wen. Reg. Sede Vac. (Wore. Hist. Soc.), 330. 



11 Ibid. 330. 



" Wore. Epis. Reg. Wakefield, fol. I d. 



I2 5 



