Maison Dieu ('House of God') is a hospital, monastery, hostel,
retirement home and royal lodge commissioned by
Henry III in 1234.
The
timber framed building is located beside
Watling Street
Watling Street is a historic route in England, running from Dover and London in the southeast, via St Albans to Wroxeter. The road crosses the River Thames at London and was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the M ...
, now the
A2 road, in
Ospringe
Ospringe is a village and area of Faversham in the English county of Kent. It is also the name of a civil parish, which since 1935 has not included the village of Ospringe.
The village lies on the Roman road Watling Street (nowadays the A2 ...
,
Faversham
Faversham () is a market town in Kent, England, from Sittingbourne, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2 road (Great ...
, in Kent, England.
Edward Hasted
Edward Hasted (20 December 1732 OS (31 December 1732 NS) – 14 January 1812) was an English antiquarian and pioneering historian of his ancestral home county of Kent. As such, he was the author of a major county history, ''The History and ...
noted in 1798 that it was dedicated to the
Virgin Mary
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
. The foundation consisted of a
master
Master, master's or masters may refer to:
Ranks or titles
In education:
*Master (college), head of a college
*Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline
*Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...
and three
regular brethren of the
Order of the Holy Cross. There were also two
secular clerks, who celebrated mass for the soul of the founder and the souls of his royal predecessors and successors. They were required to be hospitable, and to entertain the poor and needy passers-by and pilgrims (heading along Watling Street). There was a chamber in the building which the king used to rest when he passed this way; it was called ''Camera Regis'', or the king's chamber.
The history and records of the building also give insight into the way sick and disabled people fitted into society during the medieval period. For example, in 1235 the 'blind daughter of Andrew of Faversham' was admitted to Maison Dieu as a 'servant of God and sister of the hospital'.
Timeline
Currently
It is under the guardianship of
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...
and managed by the Maison Dieu Museum Trust. Currently it is used to display Roman artefacts from the surrounding area including the ruined '
Church of Our Lady of Elwarton' in
Stone
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
.
but is only open at weekends and Bank Holidays from Good Friday to October.
Historic images of the Maison Dieu
The Faversham Society have many historic images of the Maison Dieu as part of their archives. In the image from the 1890s the original building can be seen. In 1900 the lower portion of the building was converted into a shop. Original images can be seen in the Faversham Society Museum Archive.
References
External links
Maison Dieu pageat English Heritage
The Maison Dieu Museum Trustofficial website
{{authority control
English Heritage sites in Kent
Museums in the Borough of Swale
Archaeological museums in England
Museums of ancient Rome in the United Kingdom
1234 establishments in England
Timber framed buildings in England
Buildings and structures in Faversham