Bond's Hospital is an

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the poor of a locality, for those who had held ce ...

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

, England, established for old

bedesmen Bedesman, or beadsman (Middle English , , from the Old English , ; ; and from the Anglo-Saxon ), was generally a pensioner or almsman whose duty was to pray for his benefactor. Function A beadsman (or beadswoman) in Medieval times occupied thei ...

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

, ''Missing Keys To The Past ,''18 August 1947 It is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. It was built in 1506 on Hill Street, around the same

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary a ...

as the old disused buildings of

Bablake School Bablake School is a secondary school, secondary co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school located in Coventry, England. It was founded in 1344 by Isabella of France, widow of Edward II of England, Edward II, maki ...

. Parts have been revised and rebuilt since but it retains many original features. It is still operated as charitable housing.

History

The hospital was founded in 1506 by Thomas Bond, a

draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period ...

who became Mayor of Coventry in 1497. He left money in his will for "the sustenance of ten poor men, and of a woman who was to attend to their necessities". They were required to attend church services three times a day and pray for the founder and the Trinity Gild. His son tried to take some of the lands given to the charity and was sued. In 1610 the crown took the land which was bought back by the city. Although most of the street frontage was rebuilt in 1832, the west end bay rebuilt in 1834, and the back wing extended in 1847, the building essentially still retains all its original features.Fox (1957), pp. 191–2. Four flats were added in the 1970s and 31 two-bedroom flats in 2004. Ford's Hospital was a similar 16th century foundation for women almoners. The ownership and operation of Bonds Hospital is now vested in the Bond's and Ford's Hospital Charity, part of the Coventry Church Municipal Charities.

Architecture

It is a

timber framed Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs. If the struc ...

building with brick infilling, and a tiled roof with

bargeboard A bargeboard or rake fascia is a board fastened to each projecting gable of a roof to give it strength and protection, and to conceal the otherwise exposed end grain of the horizontal timbers or purlins of the roof. The word ''bargeboard'' is pr ...

s. It consists of twelve bed-sitting rooms and a common room, and the garden at its rear contains a portion of the old

city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or Earthworks (military), earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as ...

Notes

References

* Buildings and structures in Coventry English medieval hospitals and almshouses 1506 establishments in England Hospitals established in the 16th century Bond's Hospital, Coventry Bond's Hospital, Coventry Almshouses in England {{authority control

History

Architecture

See also

Notes

References