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St. Nicholas* Hospital, Salisbury. 



they are " the brethren and sisters serving God in that place, and 

 to serve Him in future ; " and the most common description of them 

 is this : " that they are serving God in this place u — a description 

 which , though it might be conceived to be that of pensioners, is at 

 least more appropriate to ministering inmates. A still more con- 

 vincing description of them is " brethren and sisters and infirm 

 people/' but to this we cannot assign any date. The " sisters " 

 appear very rarely in dated deeds, and range from 1245 to 1361. 

 The last record of them is in Phillips' " Wiltshire Institutions/' 

 where in 1361 we find Laurentia Bonham instituted to the house 

 of St. Nicholas by Bishop Wyvill, " as a sister of the said house, on 

 the presentation of the warden and brethren of St. Nicholas' house." 



On the whole, therefore, it is probable that the " fratres " were 

 ministering brethren, and the " sorores " ministering sisters, at 

 least down to the middle of the fourteenth century, after which we 

 have no evidence on the point. I shall discuss later on the question 

 at what precise date they were changed into pensioners. 



But now we must turn to a different question. It has hitherto 

 been taken for granted that the arcade of eight arches, still partially 

 visible in the chapel and wall of the master's house, with all the large 

 buildings once adjacent to it, was the work of Bishop Bingham. 

 But this is a conclusion not to be assumed without reason given. 

 The pillars and arches themselves, with an old doorway, and the 

 chapel and kitchen (which was once another chapel) are the only 

 remaining features of antiquity in the hospital. And it is disputed 

 of what antiquity they are. Canon Jones thought them about 

 1160. 1 When the Archaeological Institute visited Salisbury in 



1 Canon Jones was of opinion that this arcade of arches, built about 1160, had 

 belonged to the old Church of St. Martin : and he referred (in a letter to me) to 

 Leland, and his words " that, when standing on the bridge in 1540, he saw on 

 the north side of St. Nicholas's Hospital the remains of the old St. Martin's 

 Church in a bam." It would solve many difficulties if we could believe this ; 

 but Leland's words actually are as follows : — " On the north side of this hospital 

 is an old barn, where in times past was a parish Church of St. Martin. This 

 Church was profaned, and another was made in Salisbury for it, bearing yet the 

 name of St. Martin. The cause of the translation was because it stood exceedingly 

 low and cold, and the river at rages came into it." It is only fair to state that 

 Canon Jones was on a holiday, away from books, when he wrote. Leland 



