36. THE HOSPITAL OF ST. MARY CHICHESTER (fn. 1)
This hospital is said to have been founded in
the reign of Henry II by William, dean of
Chichester, and was certainly firmly established
by 1229, in which year the king licensed the
demolition of the poor and dilapidated church of
St. Peter in the market and the annexation of its
only two parishioners to the hospital of St. Mary. (fn. 2)
From this, and from incidental references in
contemporary deeds, it seems that the original
buildings were connected with the church of
St. Mary-in-the-Market near the present market
cross. Whoever may have actually founded the
hospital there can be no doubt that it was practically refounded by Thomas of Lichfield, dean
of Chichester from 1232 to c. 1248, during
which period also most of its property in Chichester and the neighbourhood was acquired.
There were at this time thirteen inmates,
male and female, under a master, or prior as he
is called in Dean Thomas's statutes, (fn. 3) part of the
inmates being sick and infirm and the others
sound. The right of admission rested with the
prior who, after satisfying himself of the suitability of any candidate, caused him to take the
vows of chastity, obedience, and poverty; after
which the newly admitted person if a male kissed
the brethren, or if a female the sisters, and had
his, or her, hair cut short. Excellent rules were
laid down for the punishment of offences, the
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. (fn. 4)
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, (fn. 5) and were allowed in 1290 to
close a path running across it. (fn. 6) Probably, therefore, 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 mismanagement, 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. (fn. 7)
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. (fn. 8) A
visitation in 1442 showed that there were then
only two brethren and two sisters, (fn. 9) and in 1478
there were, besides the warden and chaplain, five
inmates, (fn. 10) which number does not seem to have
been exceeded after this date.
The year 1528 marked an important epoch in
the life of this institution, for the dean, William
Fleshmonger, drew up a fresh series of regulations
for its government. The warden was in future
to be a priest, and was to visit the hospital once a
month, to see that mass was duly celebrated in
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 13s. 4d. 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. (fn. 11)
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 6s. 3d.
in 1535 to £44 17s. 7d. in 1550. (fn. 12) 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. (fn. 13) Unfortunately 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. (fn. 14) The total income of the charity
at this time was nearly £278, out of which
the chapter had only allowed the brethren
£42 5s. 10d.
Upon the Restoration the dean and chapter
recovered their patronage and again appear to
have neglected their duties, as in 1679 Archbishop 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 14s. 8d. on the latter ground. We further
learn from the account of this action (fn. 15) 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
sick those who were well should nurse them if
so ordered by the warden on pain of expulsion. (fn. 16)
Between 1815 and 1835 the warden's income
averaged within a few pence of £170, and that
of each inmate was over £30. (fn. 17) A further
£1,000 of stock was left to the hospital by
Mr. Baker in 1840. (fn. 18)
Wardens Of The Hospital Of St. Mary, Chichester (fn. 19)
Henry, occurs 1230 (fn. 20)
Walter, occurs 1248 (fn. 21) -63 (fn. 22)
Robert de Kyngeston, occurs 1272 (fn. 23) and
1279 (fn. 24)
Gilbert, occurs 1285 (fn. 25)
Walter, occurs 1288 (fn. 26)
Gilbert, occurs 1298 (fn. 27)
Richard le Orfevre, appointed 1301, (fn. 28) occurs
1304 (fn. 29)
William de Selebourne, occurs 1316 (fn. 30)
Thomas, occurs 1343 (fn. 31)
Alan de Leverton, appointed 1385 (fn. 32)
Walter Forey, exchanged 1389 (fn. 33)
John Courderay, appointed 1389 (fn. 34)
John Ayleston, occurs 1412 (fn. 35)
John Croucher, resigned 1447 (fn. 36)
John Goswell, appointed 1447 (fn. 37)
John Champion, 1475
Ivo Darrell, occurs 1478 (fn. 38)
William Fleshmonger, 1525
John Champion, occurs 1528, (fn. 39) 1535 (fn. 40)
John Worthyall, 1537, occurs 1542 (fn. 41)
John Peterston, B.D., 1554
William Pye, 1555
George Beaumont, D.D., 1558
Hugh Turnbull, D.D., 1559
Edmund Weston, LL.B., 1567
William Overton, D.D., 1570
Richard Kitson, B.D., 1580
Randoll Barlow, 1585
Francis Cox, D.D., 1602
Hugh Perrin, 1606
Henry Challen, 1610
Humphrey Booth, M.A., 1613
Bruno Ryves, 1660
Oliver Whitby, D.D., 1666
Henry Edes, D.D., 1679
William Hayley, D.D., 1703
Edmund Gibson, D.D., 1715
John Wright, M.A., 1717
Thomas Hayley, D.D., 1720
Thomas Sherlock, D.D., 1723
William Sherwin, M.A., 1728
Thomas Gooch, D.D., 1735
Thomas Ball, M.A., 1738
William Clarke, M.A., 1754
Thomas Hurdis, D.D., 1770
John Frankland, M.A., 1772
Charles Harward, M.A., 1778
John Courtail, M.A., 1784
Combe Miller, M.A., 1806
Moses Toghill, M.A., 1814
Charles Webber, M.A., 1825
Thomas Baker, M.A., 1828
Charles Edward Hutchinson, 1829
Charles Webber, junr., 1832
George Shiffner, 1837
Charles Webber, junr., 1849
Charles Edward Hutchinson, 1850
Charles Pilkington, 1864
Charles Anthony Swainson, D.D., 1870
John Russell Walker, M.A., 1882
Thomas Francis Crosse, D.C.L., 1889
Josiah Sanders Teulon, M.A., 1889
James Hoare Masters, M.A., 1902
The thirteenth-century seal is a pointed oval;
the Virgin seated on a carved throne, with
crown, the Child, with nimbus, on the left knee.
In the field, on the left a star of six points between
two crescents, each enclosing a roundle; on the
right a crescent enclosing a roundle between two
stars. (fn. 42) Legend:—
✠ SIGILL' : HOSPITALIS : SBE : MARIE :
CICESTRIE.