St Bartholomew's Hospital, Hythe - geograph

Centuries is a house in

Hythe, Kent Hythe () is a coastal market town on the edge of Romney Marsh, in the district of Folkestone and Hythe on the south coast of Kent. The word ''Hythe'' or ''Hithe'' is an Old English word meaning haven or landing place. History The town has m ...

, built in the 13th century, possibly earlier. It is the birthplace of

Hamo Hethe Hamo Hethe was a medieval Bishop of Rochester, England. He was born about 1275 in Centuries, Hythe. He was elected on 18 March 1317 and consecrated on 26 August 1319. He resigned the see early 1352 before his death 4 May 1352.Fryde, et al. ''H ...

, b.1275, who became the

Bishop of Rochester The Bishop of Rochester is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury. The town of Rochester has the bishop's seat, at the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was fo ...

in 1319. In 1685 it became St. Bartholomew's Hospital, for between ten and thirteen people, until 1949; from 1951 it has been divided into two private flats. The house is currently listed on the

Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

as Grade II*, and is on the corner of Church Hill and Bartholomew Street in Hythe.

Details

The original house was built in the 13th century, possibly earlier, by a family named Noble, believed to be Hamo's ancestors. The two story structure with a large cellar is built of local rag-stone and was, at that time, in a preeminent location on the docks in Hythe, on the corner of the 12th century road to Canterbury called Clyme Hill, via Saltwood Castle. Built of Kentish rag-stone and wide-joined rubble, the simple two story structure had an exterior staircase made of wood on the east side. The cellar, with its door facing the docks, was used for storage and trade while the ground floor and first floor were living areas. It is likely that the original cellar door and south-facing windows had rounded arches in the Norman style, that were adapted to the Gothic style at the time of the western addition. There is a large stone that goes several feet into the ground on the southeast corner of the building which is most likely a mooring Bollard. In 1335 the west wing extension was added along the quayside on Duck Lane, by Hamo de Hethe, by then Bishop of Rochester. He continued to use the house as a summer residence. The west wing is built of roughly squared sandstone rubble with simple Gothic arched windows and a central door which leads, still today, through a stone floored passage that exits in the back garden. The exterior wooden steps were removed and an interior staircase built, from the cellar up to the ground and first floors. Upon entering the cellar there is an ancient Ambry built into the stone wall, which would have been used for storage objects of a religious nature, holy waters, and the like. The final addition to the house was in 1811, extending the rooms to number sixteen in all. The house remained owned by the church until 1949. the house has been listed on the national heritage list for England and has been designated as Grade II* since 1950.

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