Hospital of St Cross
Encyclopedia
Almshouse
Almshouses are charitable housing provided to enable people to live in a particular community...
in Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, founded between 1133 and 1136. It is the oldest charitable institution in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The founder was Henry de Blois, Bishop of Winchester
Bishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England diocese of Winchester, with his cathedra at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.The bishop is one of five Church of England bishops to be among the Lords Spiritual regardless of their length of service. His diocese is one of the oldest and...
, grandson of William the Conqueror, half brother to King Stephen of England
Stephen of England
Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...
.
Not only is it the oldest but is also the largest medieval almshouse in Britain; it is built on the scale of an Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
or Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
college, but is older than any of the colleges at the universities. It has been described as "England's oldest and most perfect almshouse". Most of the buildings and grounds are open to the public at certain times.
Charitable Work
The Hospital still provides accommodation for a total of 25 elderly men known as "The Brothers" under the care of "The Master"; they belong to either of two charitable foundations. Those belonging to the Foundation of the Hospital of St Cross (founded in about 1132) wear black robes with a silver cross and trencher hatSquare academic cap
The square academic cap, graduate cap, or mortarboard or Oxford cap, is an item of academic head dress consisting of a horizontal square board fixed upon a skull-cap, with a tassel attached to the center...
s. Those belonging to the Order of Noble Poverty (founded in 1445) wear claret
Claret
Claret is a name primarily used in British English for red wine from the Bordeaux region of France.-Usage:Claret derives from the French clairet, a now uncommon dark rosé and the most common wine exported from Bordeaux until the 18th century...
red robes and trencher hats. They are sometimes called the "Black Brothers" and the "Red Brothers" . Brothers must be single, widowed or divorced, over 60 years of age and preference is given to those in most need. They are expected to wear their gowns and attend daily morning prayers in the Church.
The Hospital continues an ancient tradition in the Wayfarer's Dole which consists of a small horn cup of ale and a piece of bread. The dole
Dole
Dole may refer to:*The Grain supply to the city of Rome in ancient times.* Since the early 20th Century, a colloquial term referring to government public assistance programs; see Unemployment benefits. Originally it referred to any charitable gift of food, clothing or money. The dole has taken on...
was started by a Cluniac monk and can be obtained by anyone who asks at the Porter's Lodge.
Architecture
The building is constructed of stone and surrounds two quadranglesQuadrangle (architecture)
In architecture, a quadrangle is a space or courtyard, usually rectangular in plan, the sides of which are entirely or mainly occupied by parts of a large building. The word is probably most closely associated with college or university campus architecture, but quadrangles may be found in other...
. The smaller Outer Quadrangle to the north consists of: the outer gate (16th century); brewhouse (14th century); from the 15th century, the guest wing, kitchen which had to produce food for the Master, 25 Brethren, 100 poor men and the servants, the porter's lodge and the three story Beaufort Tower c1450, this has three niches above the arch one of which still contains the weathered statue of Cardinal Beaufort who was Bishop of Winchester, the tower and spaces above the porter's lodge used to be the Master of the almshouse lodging.
Passing beneath the tower the Inner Quadrangle is reached, the north range includes the Brethren's Hall (which had to be large enough for the Brethren & 100 poor men), of the 14th century, entered via a flight of steps in a stone porch, there is a timber screen with gallery above, within there is also a splendid timber roof, arch braced, there is a central hearth and a dais
Dais
Dais is any raised platform located either in or outside of a room or enclosure, often for dignified occupancy, as at the front of a lecture hall or sanctuary....
where the Master would have dined, with the Brethren in the main part of the hall, there is a wooden staircase leading to the Master's rooms in the south east corner. The main set of two storied lodgings are on the north west & west sides of the quadrangle, these house the 25 inmates, they are notable for the tall regularly spaced chimneys and doorways each leading to four sets of apartments. There used to be a corresponding range on the south side joined to the church, but this was demolished in the 1760s. The east range of timber framing
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
and brick with stone windows, is a 16th century long gallery (for the use of the Master) raised on a cloister
Cloister
A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...
open to the quadrangle, this leads to an entrance to the church.
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
than a typical almshouse chapel. The building is stone vaulted throughout, with transepts and a central tower. The walls are over a metre in thickness, made from stone from Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
and local flint, the roof is lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
. The building is in transitional Norman
Norman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
/Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
style. Started in 1135, the chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
was the first part built two bays deep with aisles. This is typically Norman with round headed windows and much chevron ornament. But the main arches in the arcade and beneath the central tower are slightly pointed in the Gothic manner. The three bay aisled nave and transepts continue the style. Between 1383 and 1385 a large tracery
Tracery
In architecture, Tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out.-Plate tracery:...
window was inserted in the west front and the clerestory
Clerestory
Clerestory is an architectural term that historically denoted an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows. In modern usage, clerestory refers to any high windows...
windows in the nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
were enlarged and a north porch added. Several medieval encaustic
Encaustic
Encaustic may refer to:*Encaustic painting*Encaustic tile...
tiles survive on the floor. There are also traces of medieval wall paintings. The stained glass is mainly 19th century. The font came from the nearby St. Faith's Church, Winchester
St. Faith's Church, Winchester
St. Faith's Church was the parish church of St Cross, a village just south of Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was situated on the northern side of what is now Kingsgate Road at its junction with what is now St Cross Road. The church's graveyard is still there today...
, which was demolished in 1507.
Media
The Hospital was used in the filming of The Day of the TriffidsThe Day of the Triffids (2009 TV series)
The Day of the Triffids is a BBC two-part television adaptation of John Wyndham's novel of the same name. The novel had previously been adapted by the BBC in a 1981 miniseries.-Part one:...
. It was also featured on Songs of Praise
Songs of Praise
Songs of Praise is a BBC Television programme based around traditional Christian hymns. It is a widely watched and long-running religious television programme, one of the few peak-time free-to-air religious programmes in Europe Songs of Praise is a BBC Television programme based around traditional...