RELIGIOUS HOUSES 





usual punishment being to fast on bread and 

 water sitting at the bottom of the table without 

 a napkin. Sick persons without friends were to 

 be admitted without cavil, and upon their recovery 

 allowed to depart with their clothes and money, 

 unless they chose to offer anything ; if they died 

 in the hospital without making any will their 

 property was to be kept for a year and then if 

 not claimed should go to the house. Directions 

 were given for the care of poor persons arriving 

 late at night and departing the next morning, 

 and for the repetition of Paternosters, Aves, and 

 memorial prayers for benefactors. From these 

 statutes it appears that while it was expected that 

 there would often be a priest present no special 

 provision was made for one, but shortly after this 

 Martin, a citizen of Chichester, and Julian his 

 wife gave lands for the support of a chaplain who 

 was to rank next to the prior and was to be 

 present at all the canonical hours, as well as 

 celebrating certain special masses. 78 



In 1269 the Friars Minor left their original 

 settlement and moved to the site of the destroyed 

 castle of Chichester, and the king gave leave for 

 the hospital to be removed to the place lately 

 occupied by the friars ; whether such removal 

 took place at this time is not clear, but the 

 warden and brethren were licensed to retain this 

 land in 1285," and were allowed in 1290 to 

 close a path running across it. 74 Probably, there- 

 fore, it is to the latter date that we should 

 ascribe the final establishment of St. Mary's in 

 its present situation. 



In spite of the wise regulations set out in the 

 statutes there appears to have been much mis- 

 management, and in 1382 a commission was 

 issued for the visitation of the hospital, to inquire 

 as to the diminished number of inmates, waste of 

 property, and defects in buildings and furniture. 76 

 This is further borne out by Bishop Reade's 

 visitation in 1402, when it was found that the 

 services were neglected, and the thirteen poor 

 inmates defrauded of their ancient allowance of 

 broth and sometimes kept for twenty weeks 

 without their weekly salary of a groat. 76 A 

 visitation in 1442 showed that there were then 

 only two brethren and two sisters, 77 and in 1478 

 there were, besides the warden and chaplain, five 

 inmates, 78 which number does not seem to have 

 been exceeded after this date. 



The year 1528 marked an important epoch in 

 the l : re of this institution, for the dean, William 

 Fishmonger, drew up a fresh series of regulations 

 for its government. The warden was in future 

 t'j be a priest, and was to visit the hospital once a 

 .nonth, to see that mass was duly celebrated in 



71 Suss. Arch. Coll. xxiv, 49. 

 "Pat. 13 Edw. I, m. 42. 

 74 Pat. 1 8 Edw. I, m. 29. 

 " Pat. 6 Ric. II, pt. i, m. 37^. 



76 Chich. Epis. Reg. Reade, fol. 26. 



77 Ibid. Praty, fol. 78. " Ibid. Story, fol. 10. 



the chapel and by the chantry priest, to have 

 general control of the house and to render yearly 

 account to the dean and chapter ; for this he 

 should receive 8 yearly and 13*. $d. for his 

 steward. The number of poor inmates was 

 limited to five aged and infirm persons, each 

 having a room and garden and 8d. a week ; they 

 were all to learn, if they did not already know, 

 the Lord's Prayer, the Salutation, and the Creed. 

 One of the brethren was to be elected as ' Prior' 

 to maintain order in the house. 79 



Thanks possibly to its recent reformation 

 St. Mary's survived the stormy period of religious 

 change under Henry VIII and Edward VI and 

 prospered, its income rising from 35 6;. 3^. 

 in 1535 to ^44 171. -jd. in I55o. 8t) At last in 

 1582 the hospital was re-established by a charter 

 of Queen Elizabeth on almost the same lines as 

 the regulations of 1528, the number and stipends 

 of the poor remaining unaltered and the patronage 

 continuing with the dean and chapter. 81 Unfor- 

 tunately the latter thought more of making 

 money out of the hospital property than of caring 

 for its inmates, so that it was a change for the 

 better when in 1656 Cromwell put the hospital 

 under the control of the mayor and corporation 

 of Chichester, authorizing them to increase the 

 number of inmates up to ten, the greatest number 

 that could be accommodated, and to spend the 

 surplus upon such charitable works as they 

 thought fit. 82 The total income of the charity 

 at this time was nearly ^278, out of which 

 the chapter had only allowed the brethren 

 42 5;. lod. 



Upon the Restoration the dean and chapter 

 recovered their patronage and again appear to 

 have neglected their duties, as in 1679 Arch- 

 bishop Sancroft reproached the visitors of the 

 hospital for never auditing the accounts, so that 

 for many years a considerable sum of money 

 belonging to the institution had gone into the 

 warden's private purse. This fact was brought 

 to light upon the appointment of Dr. Edes as 

 warden, who brought an action against the estate 

 of his predecessor, Dr. Whitby, for dilapidations 

 and money illegally appropriated, recovering 

 171 14*. 8d. on the latter ground. We further 

 learn from the account of this action 83 that the 

 salaries of the poor and of the warden had alike 

 been trebled, being respectively 2s. a week and 

 28 a year. 



By the regulations drawn up in 1728, when 

 Dean Sherlock was warden, and still in use, the 

 salary of the warden was fixed at a sum equal to 

 the whole amount received by the five poor, 

 namely ^26. A further sum of 10 was set 

 apart for a chaplain, and amongst other rules it 

 was laid down that if any of the inmates were 



79 Suss. Arch. Coll. xxiv, 50-2. 



80 Ibid. 53. 81 Ibid. 53-4. 

 -Ibid. 55-7. 



83 Wright, op. cit. 50-72. 



101 



