HOSPITALS
31. THE HOSPITAL OF ST. MARK, BILLESWICK, CALLED GAUNT'S HOSPITAL (fn. 1)
Maurice de Gaunt, great-grandson of Robert
Fitzharding, (fn. 2) built an almonry in Billeswick and
entrusted the administration of his charity to the
monastery of St. Augustine's, Bristol. (fn. 3) On
condition of a yearly gift of 60 loads of corn, of
beans, and of peas, and a rental of £10, the abbot
and convent undertook to feed one hundred poor
people in the almonry each day and to maintain
a chaplain. (fn. 4) In his will (fn. 5) Maurice de Gaunt
provided a permanent endowment for the
almonry, consisting of the manor of Poulet in
Somersetshire, several mills, and rents in Bristol. (fn. 6)
After his death on 30 April, 1230, (fn. 7) 'his nephew
and heir,' Robert de Gurnay, confirmed the
endowment, (fn. 8) and in 1232 Henry III confirmed
the possessions of the master of the almonry of
Billeswick, which also included the manor of
Stokeland, the gift of Andrew Lutterel. (fn. 9) Robert
de Gurnay made the hospital a separate foundation, independent of the monastery of St. Augustine, with a master and three chaplains as a
governing body. (fn. 10) He granted that on the death
of the master the administration of the property
should be in the hands of the three chaplains;
they might elect one of themselves or some other
person as master, and present him to Robert de
Gurnay or his heirs, by whom he would be
presented to the bishop of Worcester. (fn. 11) He
decided that the daily allowance of each poor
person should be bread of the weight of 45s. and
oatmeal pottage. (fn. 12) He provided for twelve poor
scholars to be admitted and removed at the will
of the master, who would be bound to be present
in choir at the services in black copes and
surplices, under the control of one of their
number who should know how to discipline and
teach the others. (fn. 13) The abbot and convent of
St. Augustine's resented the modification of the
founder's will, which deprived them of the
control of the hospital, and carried their claims
before civil and ecclesiastical courts. (fn. 14) A settlement was effected in 1251. (fn. 15) The abbot and
convent of St. Augustine's recognized the independence of the master and brethren of
St. Mark's and their right to free burial within
their walls. They renounced their claims in
the manor of Poulet, and the master and brethren
of St. Mark's agreed to pay tithes within the
bounds of the parish of Poulet and Were. Both
parties agreed to refer any subsequent disputes
to the bishop of Worcester. In 1259 they
called upon him to settle the question of rights
of pasture on the land between their houses, (fn. 16) and
Bishop Cantilupe judged it to be the burial
ground of St. Augustine's, but decided that
neither of them should pasture their cattle upon
it. The possessions of the hospital, both by gift
and purchase, steadily increased. In 1247
Henry III granted rights of free warren in
Poulet and Stokeland, (fn. 17) and in 1257 the privilege
of holding a yearly fair in the manor of Poulet
on the vigil, feast, and morrow of St. John the
Baptist. (fn. 18) In 1259 the hospital had acquired the
manors of Herdicote and La Lee, lands in Bruham,
a mill at Langford, rents in Bristol, and the
advowsons of Stokeland and Quantoxhead. (fn. 19) In
that year a new constitution, framed on that of
the hospital of St. John the Baptist at Lechlade,
was drawn up by Walter Cantilupe, bishop of
Worcester, with the consent of Robert de
Gurnay and his uncle Henry de Gaunt, the
master of the hospital. (fn. 20) It provided, besides the
three chaplains of the old foundation, for six
clerks in minor orders and five lay brothers.
The clerks were to serve the priests at mass, and
if with the master's consent they took priest's
orders they were still to serve each other, for
unless the possessions of the hospital increased,
the number of chaplains and clerks might under
no circumstance exceed thirteen. The Use of
Sarum was ordered. The master, chaplains,
clerks, and brethren had one common dorter
and frater. No secular might eat in the frater;
the master was bidden to entertain guests in a
room set apart for him. Those who sought
admission to the brotherhood underwent a year
of probation. If they were found fitting they
were then professed and took vows of chastity
and obedience, promising to renounce private
property, and to keep all the observances of the
house. All the brethren bore on their habits
the sign of the hospital, a white cross, and
beneath it a red shield with three white geese.
The master and chaplain wore black cloaks and
amices, and when they went into the town
black copes. Two chaplains, six clerks, and
two lay brothers managed the daily distribution
of food to the poor, which took place before
the midday meal in the frater. The chaplains
might write anything or set down music for the
use of the house with the master's leave; under
the same condition lay brothers who were skilled
in medicine might use their knowledge for the
profit of the hospital. The house was subject
to the visitation of the bishop of Worcester, (fn. 21) but
Cantilupe granted for himself and his successors
that it should be exempt from the payment of
procurations and from the visitation of the archdeacon or his official.
In 1268 Prince Edward granted the manor of
Winterbourne Gunner in Wiltshire, (fn. 22) and in 1272
the executors of William de Rumere, formerly
treasurer of Wells, and of a canon named John
of Hereford, delivered £80 to the master and
brethren, who undertook to pay a yearly pension
of £4 3s. 4d. to the dean and chapter of Wells
for the stipend of a chantry priest and the
maintenance of services for their souls. (fn. 23)
The daily provision of food for a hundred
poor people was a heavy charge upon the income
of the hospital, which in 1282 was returned by
the master at only £20 4s. 8d. (fn. 24) When Bishop
Giffard visited the house in 1279 he found that
for four years past the feeding of the poor had
been 'damnably omitted.' (fn. 25) He ordered that
the alms should be duly made according to the
ordinance of the foundation, and added an
injunction that two brethren should be chosen
to receive all moneys due to the house, and that
they should render a yearly account to the
master and three or four of the wiser brethren.
In 1281 the master disregarded the summons of
Peckham, archbishop of Canterbury, to attend a
provincial council at Lambeth, and in accordance with a mandate from the archbishop,
Giffard suspended him from office for a time. (fn. 26)
At his visitation in 1284 the bishop again discovered that the alms had been wholly withdrawn. (fn. 27) On the resignation of the master,
Robert of Reading, in 1298, the hospital was
involved in a lawsuit with the patron, John
Ap Adam, who had married Elizabeth daughter
and heiress of John de Gurnay, and now claimed
the sole right of presentation. (fn. 28) The brethren
showed Robert de Gurnay's charter, stating that
they had elected one of themselves, William de
Beaumier, and were willing to present him to the
patron. They enforced their right. Edward I
also instituted an inquiry to discover whether the
custody of the hospital during the vacancy ought
not to fall to the crown, but the jurors made a
return in favour of the brethren. (fn. 29) During the
vacancy John Ap Adam and others entered the
manors of the house, carried off the corn and
drove away the cattle, so that the brethren could
not make their accustomed alms. (fn. 30) John Ap
Adam charged them with neglecting the terms
of their foundation. (fn. 31) He appears to have appealed
to Giffard against the brethren, but the brief
entry in the register is rather obscure; as at the
bishop's council at Hartlebury on 26 December,
1300, the answer to John Ap Adam's petition
for changing the habit of the canons of St. Mark's
was that they could not be changed without
scandal. (fn. 32) The disputes were referred to Archbishop Winchelsey when he came on his metropolitical visitation in 1301. (fn. 33) On 24 July he
decreed that the master and brethren should
begin to feed 100 poor folk on Michaelmas Day
and the three days following, but that in consideration of their losses for the rest of the year
they should only provide for thirty each day. In
the next year they should feed sixty persons
daily, and in the third year the full number of
100. He insisted that the master and obedientiars
should render an account of expenses once a year,
or oftener if needful, in the presence of the
brethren. He utterly forbade seculars, and
especially women, to enter the cloister or other
private places of the house, and he prohibited the
brethren from going outside the precincts except
with a companion, when necessary, and with the
master's leave. Although Winchelsey does not
explicitly state that the brethren were to live
according to the rule of St. Augustine, the petition of John Ap Adam, in 1300, about the
'canons' of St. Mark's suggests that, as is
apparent before the middle of the fourteenth
century, the community had already adopted the
rule of St. Augustine and the customs of Augustinian canons, probably modifying the observances
according to the needs of the house. (fn. 34) In 1312
the condition of the hospital caused grave dissatisfaction. Bishop Reynolds commissioned his
official to hold an inquiry, because he had heard
from four of the brethren that the master,
William de Beaumier, was alienating the goods
of the house. (fn. 35) Information also reached the
bishop that the aforesaid brethren had committed
grave offences against the observance of the rule. (fn. 36)
Pending the inquiry the bishop forbade the
master to take any steps against the brethren. (fn. 37)
Nevertheless the master imprisoned William of
Kent and imposed penance on him. (fn. 38) On
inquiry his guilt was proved and, as he expressed
great contrition, the bishop bade the master
punish him according to the rule of the house,
but with gentleness. (fn. 39) However, news of the
master's violent conduct afterwards reached the
bishop, and in October, 1313, he ordered
William de Beaumier, under pain of the
greater excommunication, to restore the erring
brother to his former condition and bade the
abbot of St. Augustine's see that it was done. (fn. 40)
The church of Stokeland was appropriated to
the hospital in 1316. (fn. 41) In 1326 Edward II
allowed the master and brethren to exchange their
lands at Compton, Cheddar, and Netherwere
with the bishop of Bath and Wells for the
advowson of the church of Overstowey that
they might appropriate it. (fn. 42) In 1336 Bishop
Montacute visited the hospital, and it is briefly
recorded in his register that he 'corrected' there. (fn. 43)
A few years later the house was seriously in
debt, in 1343 owing £20 to William de Langeford of Bristol, (fn. 44) and in 1344 £100 to Adam
Brabazon, a fishmonger of London, and William
de Stoures, a grocer of London. (fn. 45) In 1339
Bishop Wulstan de Bransford gave leave of a
year's absence to the master, Ralph of Tetbury,
to go on a pilgrimage to St. James of Compostella, and he committed the custody of the
house to John of Stokeland. (fn. 46) In 1346 Ralph
was still absent, and the nine brethren elected
John of Stokeland (fn. 47) in his place.
The Black Death wrought great havoc in
Bristol, and it is clear that the brothers of
St. Mark's were fewer in number during the
latter half of the century. After holding the
office of master for ten years, Walter Browning
resigned in 1370, (fn. 48) but two years later, owing to
urgent necessity, he again consented to hold
office (fn. 49) till 1391, when being very old and weak
he finally resigned. (fn. 50) In consideration of his long
and careful service he was assigned two rooms in
the house and a daily allowance of food and
drink for himself and his servant. There were
then only three priests besides himself, and they
constituted the whole community. (fn. 51) One of
them, Thomas Over, had resigned the office of
master in 1372. (fn. 52) Another, Philip Russell,
attempted to secure it for himself by papal provision, but the letters in his favour arrived too
late, (fn. 53) as William Lane, a canon of the monastery of St. Augustine, Bristol, had already been
elected and confirmed. (fn. 54) However, he was not
left in undisturbed possession. On 30 April,
1400, Henry IV granted the office of master to
his clerk, John Trowbridge. (fn. 55) Lane remonstrated,
and the appointment was revoked on 13 July. (fn. 56)
In 1406 complaint was made to the king that
works of piety, including the feeding of the poor,
had been wholly omitted by William Lane, and
that there were only three chaplains besides
himself. (fn. 57) It was stated that the clear yearly
value of the manor of Stokeland Gaunts and the
lands of Gauntesham and Colle was £40. The
manor and lands were seized into the king's
hands in consequence, but after investigation
they were restored to the master and brethren.
The numbers did not again exceed four or five. (fn. 58)
It is not clear how the charity of the hospital was
exercised, and indeed its history in the fifteenth
century is quite obscure; but apparently the
administration satisfied so vigorous a ruler and
reformer as Bishop Carpenter. In 1487 the tower
of the church was finished. (fn. 59) Sir Robert Poyntz of
Iron Acton (ob. 1520) built the Jesus Chapel,
and founded a chantry therein. (fn. 60) In the sixteenth century the hospital, like a number of
other religious houses, took gentlefolks as
boarders. Among these, in 1535, was Lady
Jane Guildford, (fn. 61) who had an annuity of £60.
After the visitation by Cromwell's commissioners
in 1535, women were excluded by the injunctions, and she wrote to Cromwell begging his
favour. 'I have a lodging there chosen as meet
for a poor widow to serve God in her old days.
And I trust both for myself and my women like
as we have been hitherto, to be of such governance with your licence to the same, that no
inconvenience shall ensue thereof. And where
hereto before I have been used from my house
to go the next way to the church, for my ease,
through the cloister of the same house to a
chapel that I have within the quire of the same,
I shall be content from henceforth, if it shall so
seem convenient unto you, to forbear that, and
to resort to the common place, like as others do,
of the same church.' John Coleman, the master,
urged Cromwell to dispense with the injunction
forbidding any of the brethren to leave the
precincts, because he was bound to ride from
place to place about the profits of the house. (fn. 62)
In 1534 the master and four brethren acknowledged the royal supremacy, (fn. 63) and five years
later, on 9 December, 1539, they surrendered
the house to Cromwell's commissioners. (fn. 64) The
master received a pension of £40; Richard
Fletcher, the steward, got £6 13s. 4d., Thomas
Pynchyn £6, and John Ellis was appointed
curate of the parish of St. Mark at a salary of
£8, but if he refused, a pension of £6 was to
be awarded him.
Sixteen men and children, servants, and
choristers of the house were paid £10 9s. 4d.
in all for their wages and liveries. The clear
yearly value of the property of the hospital
amounted to £165 2s. 4½d., the manors of Erdcote
Gaunts and Lee in Gloucestershire, Stókeland
Gaunts, Overstowey, and Poulet Gaunts in
Somerset, and Winterbourne Gunner in Wiltshire, besides the rectories of Stokeland Gaunts
and Overstowey. (fn. 65) The site and the greater
part of the possessions were sold to the mayor
and corporation of Bristol in 1541. (fn. 66)
Masters of the Hospital of St. Mark
Henry de Gaunt (brother of the founder),
occurs 1251, (fn. 67) resigned 1268 (fn. 68)
Gilbert de Watham, 1268 (fn. 69)
John of Trowbridge, resigned 1273 (fn. 70)
Thomas, occurs 1282 (fn. 71)
Robert of Reading, 1287, (fn. 72) resigned 1298 (fn. 73)
William de Beaumier, 1298, (fn. 74) occurs 1313 (fn. 75)
William, occurs 1330 (fn. 76)
Ralph of Tetbury, occurs 1336, (fn. 77) resigned or
deposed 1346 (fn. 78)
John of Stokeland, 1346 (fn. 79)
Richard of Yate, resigned 1360 (fn. 80)
Walter Browning, 1360, (fn. 81) resigned 1370 (fn. 82)
Thomas of Over, 1370, (fn. 83) resigned 1372 (fn. 84)
Walter Browning, 1372, (fn. 85) resigned 1391 (fn. 86)
William Lane, 1391, (fn. 87) occurs 1406 (fn. 88)
John Molton, occurs 1424, (fn. 89) resigned 1442 (fn. 90)
William Wyne, 1442, (fn. 91) resigned 1486 (fn. 92)
Thomas Tyler, 1486 (fn. 93)
Thomas, occurs 1501 (fn. 94)
John Coleman, occurs 1534 (fn. 95) to 1539 (fn. 96)
The seal attached to the acknowledgement of
the king's supremacy represents two crocketed
canopied niches supported by crocketed buttresses. (fn. 97) In the sinister niche is a seated figure
of St. Mark, writing his gospel on a desk or
stand before him, holding in his right hand a
stilus. On the dexter side before him is a lion
sejant rampant. In the space above between the
canopies is a heater-shaped shield, which was
probably charged with the arms of the house,
gules, three geese argent. In a compartment
below the figures are two similar shields, probably containing the arms of the two founders;
the sinister is shown to be paly or, three pales
azure for Robert de Gurnay. Between these
shields is another niche in which is a kneeling
figure looking to the right. The legend is:—
S . CŌE . DOM' . MARCI . DE . IBĪ . BILLES VVYK .
IVXTA . BRISTOLL