27. HOSPITAL OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, DEVIZES
The first reference found to this hospital occurs
in 1314, when John Wyt, of Potterne, priest,
was presented to the 'Priory of the Hospital of St.
John the Baptist' by the Mayor and Burgesses of
Devizes. (fn. 1) Of the four remaining recorded presentations, two (in 1321 and 1513) were made by
the mayor and burgesses, (fn. 2) one (in 1469) by the
mayor alone, (fn. 3) and one (in 1336) by the queen, (fn. 4)
who held the town in dower. (fn. 5) In 1399 the king
granted the custody of the hospital to one Nicholas
Coventry for life. (fn. 6)
About 1325 the Bishop of Salisbury, through
his commissaries the Prior of Bradenstoke and the
Abbot of Stanley, intervened in a dispute—which
had reached the Holy See—between the Prior
of St. John's Hospital and the Rector of 'the
parish church' of Devizes. The rector, Thomas of
Yorkfleet, had been presented in 1312 to the
church of St. John the Baptist, Devizes, (fn. 7) which
by 1398, (fn. 8) and probably much earlier, became
annexed to the church of St. Mary, Devizes. The
cause of the dispute of 1325 seems to have been
encroachment by the prior of the hospital, which
in the 16th century is expressly said to be within
the parish of St. Mary, (fn. 9) upon the parochial rights
of the Rector of Devizes. The award, confirmed
in 1326 by the bishop, safeguarded the right of
the rector to receive oblations, and the like, on
those occasions when his parishioners were admitted to the hospital chapel, or when special
services were held there. The right of the prior
or the sick of his house to all bequests made to
them was likewise safeguarded, provided the bequests did not deprive the rector of any income due
to him. The prior and all the inmates of his house
were, it was emphatically stated, parishioners of
'the parish church' of Devizes. (fn. 10)
William Salter, clothier of Devizes, left 2s. 6d.
to the prior in 1404. (fn. 11) An indulgence of 40 days
in favour of the hospital was granted by the bishop
in 1503. (fn. 12)
The chantry commissioners of 1546 and 1548
made returns for the free chapel of St. John the
Baptist, but make no mention of a hospital. In
1546 the free chapel had a clear income of
£2 13s. 2d. after paying 8s. 2d. rent resolute to the
queen. (fn. 13) In 1548 the commissioners reported that
the free chapel had property in Bishop's Cannings,
Stert, Rowde, and Poulshot worth £4 2s. 4d. a
year, and still paid the rent of 8s. 2d.; it had goods
and ornaments worth 14s. 8d., and a bell worth
6s. 8d.; the incumbent (who had been incumbent of Whaddon 1533-8) (fn. 14) was honest, of good
report, with no other living. (fn. 15) In 1550 the late
free chapel and its possessions (except bells, lead
on roofs, and advowsons) was sold by the Crown
to Richard Roberts of London. (fn. 16) The property
appears to have come later into the hands of the
Old and New Almshouses. This forms part of the
story of Devizes town.