21. THE HOSPITAL OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, BARNARD CASTLE
This hospital is said to have been founded in
or about the year 1230 by the elder John Baliol,
but the evidence is imperfect. (fn. 1) It was dedicated
to the honour of St. John the Baptist, and was
occupied by three poor women who received a
pension in money and coals to pray for the soul
of the founder. (fn. 2) Surtees describes the house as
'a low thatched building, containing one room
only, called the bedehouse.' (fn. 3) In the fifteenth
century, however, it possessed a church of its
own, for in 1497 the pope granted an indulgence
of a hundred days to all who attended 'the
church of the said hospital' on the feasts of the
nativity and beheading of its patron saint. This
was done to aid the funds of the house, which
were low at the time. (fn. 4)
The Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1536 gives the
clear value of the hospital as £5 9s. 4d. The
list of its possessions at that time includes the
site and house; land called Septem (or Sewinge)
Flatts and a cottage; lands, pasture, &c. in Selby
[Seleby]; rents in Hullerbush [Hullerbuske]
and Ovington; a pension of £1 6s. 8d. from
Rievaulx Abbey; and tithes from the mills of
Barnard Castle, Gainford, and Bywell. The
particulars given in the Commissioners' Report
in 1594 agree in the main with the above, the
pension of £1 6s. 8d. being then paid from the
revenues of the dissolved abbey of Rievaulx.
The sole event in the pre-Reformation history
of the hospital is a robbery of certain of its goods
which took place in 1355, and was punished
by the excommunication of the unknown
marauders. (fn. 5)
Being a lay foundation (though the master
was always supposed to be in holy orders), (fn. 6) the
hospital continued to exist after the dissolution,
and the patronage fell into the hands of the
sovereign, as appendent to the manor of Barnard
Castle. (fn. 7) In 1866 the property was put into the
hands of trustees, and the hospital is now incorporated with the North Eastern County School. (fn. 8)
Masters of Barnard Castle Hospital
John de Mortham, d. or res. 1304 (fn. 9)
John de Horton, app. 1304
John de Harewood, occ. April, 1355 (fn. 10)
Christopher Hilton, occ. 1497 (fn. 11)
Richard Leigh, occ. 1536, (fn. 12) 21 March,
1557-8; (fn. 13) d. c. 1562 (fn. 14)
Edmund Treasurer, c. 1562 (fn. 15)
Christopher Jackson, app. by the Lord Chancellor, 17 December, 1596 (fn. 16)
John Chapman, occ. 1689 (fn. 17)
Peter Ferron, occ. 1705 (fn. 18)
Rev. E. Browell, D.D., occ. 15 July, 1756 (fn. 19)
Rev. A. Wood, M.A., app. 3 August, 1763 (fn. 20)
Rev. W. Lipscomb, app. 1783, d. 1842 (fn. 21)
Rev. J. Davidson, app. 1842, d. 1847 (fn. 22)
Rev. G. Dugard, app. 1847, d. 1865 (fn. 23)