By the Rev. Canon Moberly. 



123 



He puts the whole under the wardenship of one man (the aforesaid 

 sub-dean), a priest who is to act under the Dean and Chapter, with, 

 three other priests under him r so that while two of the four lodge 

 at " the house opposite to the chapel/' and two at the hospital, all 

 four are to eat together in the hospital refectory, and to be clothed 

 alike in a russet coat closed round the throat, and to keep step to- 

 gether. Then follow details as to the services to be said by each 

 separately. While the first pair were to say the canonical hours in 

 the chapel, the third priest (who was left over for the hospital) was 

 to serve the sick by saying a mass for the brothers and sisters who 

 have been benefactors to the hospital, and for any who have died 

 there : to visit the sick diligently, and be careful about the advice 

 he gives, with the arrangement of the warden, as to penitence and 

 confessions : and to bury the dead, at which the other chaplains were 

 not compelled to be present. The warden is to preside and set a 

 good example to the chaplains and servants, and to realize that he 

 is principally bound to serve the Chapel of St. Nicholas next the 

 hospital, and there to use the same ritual which obtains in the 

 Cathedral. He must besides pay the due stipends to each of his 

 assistants, and keep the bridge in repair ; the rest of the gifts to the 

 hospital and bridge are to go for the relief of the poor. This is 

 signed by all the dignitaries of the chapter, together with the sub- 

 dean and sub -chanter. 



The chapel of St. John the Baptist on the bridge is still standing,, 

 but has been used for the last fifty years as an ordinary dwelling- 

 house. I hope soon to be able to restore it to a worthier use ;. 

 meanwhile its triple lancet window, running the whole length of 

 the three floors of the modern dwelling-house, is a conspicuous 

 object from the stream above it, or from the garden of the hospital. 

 For three hundred years exactly — from 1244 to 1545 — the salaries 

 of the priests that officiated there, and the repairs of the bridge 

 itself, were paid by the masters of St. Nicholas, who recouped 

 themselves with the offerings made by pious wayfarers who turned 

 aside from the road to this wayside chapel. 



And now what was the staff of the hospital, and who were its 

 inmates ? Light is thrown upon this question by various casual 



