A HISTORY OF NORFOLf^ 



Benedict Cobbe,' elected 1395 



Robert Fonline,' elected 1399 



Roger Prat,' resigned 1 41 2 



Robert Spenser,* elected 141 2 



William Sepyngton LL.B.,' 1431 



Roger Pratte,^ elected 1 43 1 



John Walpool/ elected 1436 



Hugh Acton,* elected 1437 



John Schott, LL.D.,' elected 1464 



John Smith,'" elected 1479 



Oliver Dynham," elected 1489 



Thomas Schenkwyn,^^ elected 1495 



Nicholas Goldwell," elected 1497 



Robert Honywood,^* elected 1498 



John JuUys,'' 1499 



William Cooper,^* 15 13 



John Hekker," occurs 1526 



Thomas Cappe, LL.D.,'* elected 1532 



Thomas Simmondes," 1535 



Robert Codde,*'' 1537 



Nicholas Shaxton,^' elected 1546, last master 



There is a very imperfect seal ad causas of 

 this hospital attached to a charter of 1306, show- 

 ing the church with central tower.^^ 



A cast of a fine impression of a late thirteenth- 

 century seal of the master and brethren 

 (if in. Xii in.) bears St. Giles seated, with 

 an arrow-wounded fawn leaping at him. In the 

 base a cross surmounted by a mitre. Legend : — 



^ s'mAGRI • ET . FRM . SCI - EGIDII . DE , 

 NORWIC " 



82. THE HOSPITAL OF HILDE- 

 BROND, NORWICH 2* 



This hospital was founded in the ancient 

 parish of St. Edward, at the beginning of the 

 thirteenth century, by Hildebrond le Mercer, 

 citizen, and Maud his wife. The patronage 

 was given to the bishop. The founders also 

 built, for the use of the brethren and occupants, 

 a chapel, dedicated to the honour of St. Mary, 

 adjoining the west end of St. Edward's church ; 



' Norw. Epis. Reg. vi, 208. ' Ibid, vi, 251. 



' Ibid, vii, 49. ' Ibid. 



' Ibid, ix, 44. ^ Ibid, ix, 46. 



' Ibid, ix, 88. * Ibid. X, 7. 



' Ibid, xi, 7. '» Ibid, xii, 68. 



" Ibid, xii, 138. 



" Blomefield, Hist. e/Norf. iv, 400. 

 " Ibid. " Ibid. 



" City Rec. 70. 

 " Norw. Epis. Reg. xiii, 44. 

 '■ Blomefield, Hist, of Nor/, iv, 400 ; Add. Ch. 



'4793- 



'* Norw. Epis. Reg. xiv. 



" Blomefield, Hist. o/Norf. iv, 400. 



'°Ibid. "CitvRec. 70. 



•- B.M. Top. Ch. 52. » B.M.,D. C. F. 39. 



" Kirkpatrick, Relig. Ord. of Norm. 230-6 ; Dug- 

 dale, Mon. vi, 768 ; Blomefield, Hist, of Norf iv, 

 71-2 ; Taylor, InJex Monastic us, 56. 



446 



but when this church became wholly appropriated 

 to the hospital, and the parish united to that of 

 St. Julian, about 1269, the chapel was only 

 occasionally used, as the church was served by 

 the hospital chaplain. The hospital was usually 

 known as Hildebronde's, and the various colla- 

 tions by the bishop in the institution books are 

 entered in that name ; but it was also termed 

 St. Mary's Hospital, and at a later date was 

 popularly known as Ivy Hall. 



In the fourteenth-century register of the 

 archdeaconry of Norwich, known as the 

 ' Norwich Domesday,' is the following entry, 

 cited by Mr. Kirkpatrick: — 



'There is in the parish of St. Edward a 

 certain hospital called Hildebronde's Spytelle, 

 lying near the churchyard on the south side, 

 built with houses and a hall, and chambers for 

 the master. In which said hospital, poor people 

 wanting lodging ought to be entertained, and to 

 have a certain quantity of fuel [focalium) from 

 the master.' It is further stated that the master 

 had a chapel annexed to St. Edward's church 

 (the simple inventory is given), where he could 

 celebrate mass at his pleasure. The annual 

 value of the hospital was estimated at lOOf. 



The infirmarian of the cathedral paid the 

 hospital a rent of 2s. 6d.^^ ; the city paid it 71. bd. 

 for stalls in the market ; and the hospital of St. 

 Giles 2s, 



The common fate of so many of these 

 hospitals overtook the one founded by citizen 

 Hildebronde, namely the absorption of the major 

 part of the income by the master. The bishops 

 allowed the mastership to be held with other 

 benefices, and seem to have considered their 

 duties at an end when they had made a collec- 

 tion. That abuses were rampant in 1428 

 appears from the will of William Setman, some 

 time mayor of the city. He requested that a 

 conference might be held with 'the master of 

 Ivyhalle, late called the Hospital, in Conysford, 

 in Norwich,' and if the master willed for tjie 

 future to observe the ancient order of the 

 hospital, and discharge its burden, then the rent 

 of two houses was to be restored. ^^ 



From subsequent wills, cited by Kirkpatrick, it 

 would appear that some care for the poor was 

 discharged by this hospital later in the century. 

 Thus Robert Steynton, rector of St. Julian's, 

 bequeathed to it, in 1 440, a green coverlet and 

 a pair of blankets, and a pair of sheets ; a will 

 of 1457 made a bequest to the poor of the 

 hospital of Ivy Hall, and a third will of 1459 

 left 2s. to the repair of the beds of the same 

 hospital.*' Spoliation, however, again set in, for 

 the Valor of 1535 gave the annual value of the 

 messuage, with court and garden, of this hospital, 

 as only 145.-' 



" Infirm. R. 34 Hen. VI. 



« Reg. Surflet, f. 124. 



" Kirkpatrick, Relig. Ord. ofNorzv. 234. 



" Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), vi, 292. 



