St John's Foundation was established in 1174 as St John's Hospital in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England, by Bishop Reginald Fitz Jocelin. It is among the oldest

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 ...

s in England. The current building was erected in 1716 and has been designated as a Grade I

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 ...

History

The 'hospital of the baths' was built beside the hot springs of the Cross Bath, for their health-giving properties and to provide shelter for the poor infirm. It was placed under the control of Bath Cathedral Priory which became

Bath Abbey The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is a parish church of the Church of England and former Benedictines, Benedictine monastery in Bath, Somerset, Bath, Somerset, England. Founded in the 7th century, i ...

. One of the key benefactors was Canon William of Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, who gave substantial areas of land to support the hospital. Funds were needed for the upkeep of the hospital and, in 1400, the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

encouraged visitors on certain days to make donations in exchange for being granted remission of their sins. It was suggested in 1527 that the hospital be amalgamated with the Priory to provide greater access to its wealth, but this did not happen. In 1535 it was valued at £22 16s. 9d. After the Dissolution of the monasteries it remained independent, and attempts by William Crouch to take it into private property were defeated after the city fathers petitioned

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

. During the rest of the

Elizabethan era The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female ...

, when wealthy visitors came to the spa the almshouse provided lodgings. In 1716 the architect William Killigrew was commissioned to rebuild the hospital. Construction continued after 1727 with John Wood, the Elder undertaking the building, as his first work in Bath, when he was aged 23. He went on to design many of the buildings which created the Georgian city.

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...

stayed here in 1765. The site now includes Chapel Court, and continues to provide a home for over 100 of the local elderly poor and make grants to individuals and organisations in and around Bath. The charity is now known as The Hospital of St John the Baptist with the Chapel of St Michael annexed with St Catherine's Hospital.

Architecture

The architecture is

palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

, which is common in Bath. The two-storey

Bath stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate originally obtained from the Middle Jurassic aged Great Oolite Group of the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its h ...

building has a heavy ground floor arcade of round-headed arches on pillars, and retains its original window mouldings and sashes.

References

External links

* *
Entry at Images of England
– English Heritage, archived in 2012 {{Authority control Residential buildings completed in 1716 Grade I listed buildings in Bath, Somerset Grade I listed almshouses Almshouses in Somerset

History

Architecture

See also

References

Further reading

External links