HOSPITALS
16. THE HOSPITAL OF ST. GILES, KEPIER
The hospital at Kepier, near Durham, was
founded in 1112 by Bishop Flambard, who
dedicated it to God and St. Giles, and endowed
it with his vill of Caldecotes (fn. 1) with its appurtenances; the mill of Milneburn; and two sheaves
of corn from every carucate of his demesnes of
Newbottle, Houghton, Wearmouth, Ryhope,
Easington, Sedgefield, Sherburn, Quarrington,
Newton, Chester, Washington, Boldon, Cleadon,
Whickham, and Ryton. (fn. 2)
When Cumin contended with Bishop William
de St. Barbara for the possession of the bishopric
of Durham, the bishop with Conyers and his
men took refuge for a time in St. Giles' Church,
which they fortified. Failing to obtain an entrance into Durham they retired (1144) to
Bishopton, and Cumin ravaged the country and
burnt down the church and hospital of St. Giles. (fn. 3)
It is evident from Simeon's account of these
events that the hospital then stood on the hill,
close to the church; when Bishop Pudsey rebuilt it some years later, (fn. 4) he chose a lower site
on the right bank of the Wear at some distance
from the church, (fn. 5) for the sake, probably, of
shelter and a good water-supply.
Bishop Pudsey ordained that the fraternity
should consist of a master and thirteen brethren
under the usual monastic vows. Six of them
were to be chaplains, one acting as confessor,
while the remaining seven were to undertake the respective duties of steward, keeper of
the tanyard, baker, miller, granger, keeper of
the stock, and receiver or attorney-general of the
house. Provision was made for an infirmary, a
common dormitory, and a common hall; also
for an annual supply of decent clothing to all
the brethren, with boots twice a year for the
chaplains; and for the others, who had more
active employments, footgear of a more serviceable kind ('socularibus cum coreis ligatis') as
often as might be required. (fn. 6)
Bishop Pudsey confirmed Flambard's foundation and endowment, and added the vill of
Clifton. He exempted St. Giles' Church, which
had been originally built to serve as a chapel to
the hospital, from archidiaconal control, and
confirmed the possessions of the house in
Weardale, viz. a lead mine, an iron mine, a
toft, certain tithes, and pasture for all the
cattle. (fn. 7)
During his episcopate Gilbert the chamberlain
gave the brethren leave to make their mill-dam
and mill-pool on his land near the new site; (fn. 8)
Gilbert Hansard gave the vill of Amerston
[Aymundeston] and 5 oxgangs in Hurworth for
the support of a chaplain to pray for his soul and
the souls of his kindred; (fn. 9) and Stephen the
chaplain gave all his land at Southcroft in Gilesgate. (fn. 10) By a charter, the date of which is not
known, Guy of Hutton granted lands in Hutton
to the hospital, but these were subsequently
transferred to Finchale Priory. (fn. 11) By various
later grants the hospital became possessed of small
parcels of land, &c., in Medomsley, (fn. 12) Frosterley, (fn. 13)
Claxton, (fn. 14) Amerston, (fn. 15) Eppleton [Epplingden],
Barnes, Estwell, Crawcrook, Derncrook, (fn. 16) and
Holmersk, (fn. 17) and of the vills of Hunstanworth (fn. 18) and Iveston. (fn. 19) In 1332 the master of
Kepier was accused of having acquired, without
licence, a plot of pasture called 'Le Tung' and
'Enelishop' in Styford, co. Northumberland.
The king took the land into his own hands, but
on learning that Ralph, a former master, (fn. 20) had
acquired it long before the Statute of Mortmain
from Hugh de Bolbek, then lord of the said
pasture, he at once restored it. (fn. 21) This pasture
was held of John of Lancaster in frankalmoign;
he remitted the rent of 5 marks, 4 July, 1315. (fn. 22)
At some time during the fourteenth century the
advowson of Hunstanworth was transferred from
Durham priory to the hospital, and in 1445
Bishop Neville appropriated to it the rectory of
St. Nicholas, Durham, with its glebe in Old
Durham. (fn. 23) In 1371 the master held a tenement in Newcastle. (fn. 24)
In 1306 the Scots, raiding under the command of Brus, set fire to the hospital and
amongst other damage burnt down the muniment-room, thereby destroying all the ancient
charters and other records of the house. (fn. 25) To
remedy this disaster Bishop Kellaw issued a
commission to inquire what lands the hospital
held, and by what rents and services. Counterparts of some of the charters were in existence,
and others were verified on oath. (fn. 26)
Five years later Peter of Thoresby, master of
Kepier, was summoned to appear before the
bishop to answer a charge of misappropriating
the goods of the house, (fn. 27) and in the autumn of
the same year (1311) the bishop ordered a visitation of the hospital, with a view to the reformation of certain defects and excesses. (fn. 28)
In April, 1312, Queen Isabel, wife of Edward II, lodged at Kepier, apparently for one
night, and the sum of £18 17s. 9d. was paid to
the master, Hugh de Montalto, for her expenses. (fn. 29)
Probably the money was not unwelcome, for
the house had been in a very depressed state
since the Scottish invasion, (fn. 30) on which account
Bishop Kellaw, in July, 1312, granted to it
the tithes of all the recently reclaimed wastes
near Gateshead and at 'Brounsyde' in the parish
of Auckland. (fn. 31) At the bishop's request the
brethren, possibly glad to gratify their patron,
granted to William of Pencher for his good
service a livery in their house, i.e. while in good
health to serve in the hall and eat with the
brethren at table; when sick, to have a fit place
in the house, and a sufficient supply of bread,
ale, &c., and when disabled, to have a robe and
6s. 8d. a year. (fn. 32)
Three years later (1315) the bishop conferred
a still more substantial benefit upon the hospital.
He founded the prebend of Kepier in the collegiate church of Auckland, endowing it with the
tithes of certain lands newly brought into cultivation, and appropriating it in perpetuity to the
master of Kepier for the time being, who was to
have a stall in the choir and all the rights of a
prebendary. In return the master was to provide a sub-deacon at a salary of £1 10s. per
annum for Auckland church; two additional
chaplains (making eight in all) were to be maintained in the hospital to celebrate mass for the
souls of the bishops of Durham, past, present,
and to come; ten additional paupers were to be
relieved at the hospital in the daily evening
distribution; and the bishop's anniversary was
to be kept, masses being said for him, and a
special allowance of food given to thirteen poor
persons. The master was exempted from attendance at synods, (fn. 33) chapters, visitations, &c., and
was to reside in the hospital unless in personal
attendance on the bishop. (fn. 34)
In October, 1316, the see of Durham being
vacant, the king displaced Hugh de Montalto,
and made Simon of Eycote master in his stead.
The mandate on this appointment is directed to
the 'brethren and sisters' of the hospital; (fn. 35) and
the 'sisters' are again mentioned by Bishop
Tunstall in 1532; (fn. 36) but there is no account of
any provision for women at Kepier. Possibly
the words are merely formal.
Simon of Eycote ruled over the house for four
years, at the end of which time the king, for
some reason which is not stated, withdrew the
appointment and restored Hugh de Montalto to
his former dignity. (fn. 37) Hugh, perhaps by way of
compensation, promised, so soon as he had full
possession of the hospital, to enfeoff Simon of
£10 worth of land in Amerston, Hurworth,
and elsewhere. (fn. 38)
The tenants of the hospital suffered severely
in the Black Death; and as this scourge was
accompanied by a failure in the crops and murrain amongst the cattle, the house was reduced
to great poverty, and Bishop Hatfield in 1351
granted an indulgence of 300 days to all who
contributed to its relief. (fn. 39) The prior and convent
of Durham granted to the hospital in the following year the advowson and glebe of Hunstanworth church, in exchange for an annual outrent of 13s. 4d. (fn. 40) This, however, can have been of
little benefit to the hospital, for some time at least,
as the necessary expenses in repairing the chancel
and manse were so great as to render the presentation of a rector impossible, so that a stipendiary chaplain had to be appointed. (fn. 41)
In 1378 the priors of Durham and Finchale
were commissioned by the bishop to visit
St. Giles', but there is no record of their proceedings. (fn. 42) Some sixty years later (1437), under
Bishop Langley, another visitation took place. (fn. 43)
Richard Bukley, the master, had apparently been
accused of maladministration of the goods of the
house, and a searching inquiry took place, which
resulted in his full acquittal. (fn. 44) When Bishop
Neville succeeded Langley he granted Bukley
(1439) a similar acquittance (fn. 45) ; and upon the
master's retiring on account of age he bestowed
on him a pension of 40 marks per annum. (fn. 46)
Another charge of waste and misappropriation
of funds was made in Bishop Tunstall's time
(1532), and he announced his intention of
inquiring into the matter (fn. 47) ; but there are no
returns of his visitation.
In the returns of 1535-6 the clear value of
Kepier Hospital is given as £167 2s. 11d. per
annum. (fn. 48) The house was surrendered to the
king 14 January, 1545-6, and was granted in
the same year to Sir W. Paget, who afterwards
reconveyed it to the king in exchange for the
college and manor of Burton-on-Trent and
other lands. (fn. 49) Edward VI granted it to John
Cockburn, lord of Ormiston, (fn. 50) who, seventeen
years later, sold it with all its dependencies to
John Heath, warden of the Fleet. (fn. 51)
Masters of Kepier Hospital
Adam, occ. 1189 (fn. 52)
Ralph, occ. between 1228 and 1237 (fn. 53)
De Argentino, occ. between 1241 and 1249 (fn. 54)
John de London, occ. 1254, 1258 (fn. 55)
Peter de Tylynsby, occ. 1300 (fn. 56)
Peter de Thoresby, occ. 1306-15 (fn. 57)
Hugh de Montalto, occ. 1311-17 (fn. 58)
Simon de Eycote, app. 17 October, 1316 (fn. 59)
Hugh de Montalto, restored 22 November,
1320 (fn. 60)
Edmund Howard, occ. 1341-45 (fn. 61)
William Legat, occ. 1348 (fn. 62)
Richard Rotere, app. 14 January, 1362-3 (fn. 63)
Hugh Herle, or Neile, occ. 1388 (fn. 64)
Robert Wycliff, occ. before 1405; d. 1423 (fn. 65)
Richard Bukley, app. 1423; res. 1439 (fn. 66)
John Lound, app. 1439 (fn. 67) ; occ. 1455 (fn. 68)
Henry Gillowe, res. 1479(?) (fn. 69)
Ralph Booth, app. 1479 p.r. Gillowe (fn. 70)
Thomas Colston, app. 1497 p.m. Booth (fn. 71)
Roger Layborn, 1501-3 (fn. 72)
Thomas Wytton (fn. 73)
John Boer (fn. 74)
William Franklyn, occ. 1520; res. 14 January, 1545-6 (fn. 75)
Two illustrations of the seal of St. Giles' Hospital are given in Archaelogia Aeliana; each is in
shape a pointed oval: the first (? thirteenth
century) bears the cross of St. Cuthbert, with the
legend—
SIGILLU · SANCTI · EGIDII · DUNELMIE;
the other a cross with two arms, and the words—
SIGILLUM · SANCTI · EGIDII. (fn. 76)