The Lord Leycester Hospital is one of the best preserved examples of medieval courtyard architecture in England and is a charity supporting ex-servicemen. It is located in Warwick, England, next to the West Gate, on High Street. It is a Grade I listed building. The hospital is a prominent feature of Warwick. For almost 900 years buildings have been erected and civic activity has taken place on the site, starting with the chapel built in 1126. The site was donated by the 12th Earl of Warwick in the 14th century to the United Guild of the Holy Trinity and St George. The Guild Hall, Great Hall and Master's House were constructed in the late 15th century. Over the centuries, the ancient buildings and 500 year old gardens have been admired by visitors such as Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde, King George V and the Queen Mother and travellers from around the world. Living quarters and public rooms were added to the chapel including the Great Hall. It was primarily used as a private chamber where the Guilds met to discuss business. The table found in the center of the Guildhall is thought to have been the original table used by the United Guilds of Warwick where they discussed matters such as trade, religion and politics.
Early modern period
The United Guilds were dispersed by King Henry VIII in 1546. The 1st Earl of Leicester acquired the buildings in 1571, founding therein a hospital for aged or injured soldiers and their wives, under royal charter from Queen Elizabeth I, run by 12 resident "Brethren" (originally soldiers) under the charge of a "Master", and funded from the income of various estates.
Today the hospital is run by a master, a retired officer of the Armed Forces. Eight ex-servicemen and their wives are provided with flats in return for their past services: they act as guides for visitors. The hospital is funded by visitor income, the original estates having been sold over the years.
Key features
The Chapel of St. James the Great
The carvings, notably the famous Warwick icon of the bear and ragged staff (or "baculus") and the two-tailed lion from the Dudley family coat of arms, illustrate the renowned craftsmanship in wood of Warwick men. The fine stained glass in the eastern window is the work of the Birmingham firm of Clayton & Bell. Above the south door is a window by William Morris who also designed the hangings around the altar.
The Great Hall
Apart from the floor, heating system and public restrooms at the far end, the Hall has changed very little in structure and appearance from the 1300s. It was used by the Guilds for public functions and this has been resumed today for dinners, dances, receptions, concerts and meetings. Napoleonic swords, thought to have come from the Battle of Waterloo and a cannonball dug up from the Battle of Edge Hill.
List of weaponry in the Guildhall
Below is a list of weaponry that is featured in the Guildhall:
{| class="wikitable"
!Name
!Date
|-
|English Infantry Officer's Sword
|1837-1845
|-
|Italian Officer's Sword
|1805-1814
|-
|English Light Cavalry Sword
|1854
|-
|Polish Saxon Sword
|c. 1720
|-
|English Rank and File Sword
|1864
|-
|Heavy Cavalry Sword
|1748-1778
|-
|Copy of Heavy Cavalry Sword
|n.d.
|-
|Italian Executioner's Sword
|1840-1860
|-
|Re-Hilted French Cavalry Broadsword
|c. 1885
|-
|English Dragoon Officer's Sword
|1850s
|-
|Indian Light Cavalry Officer's Sword
|n.d.
|-
|Basket Hilted Scottish Broadsword
|1600s
|-
|American Cutlass
|1775-1783
|-
|British Cavalry Sword
|1908-1912
|-
|English Officer's Small Sword
|1650s-1700s
|-
|Sword from Edge Hill (Edge Hill Sword)
|1642
|-
|Indian Copy Sword
|n.d.
|-
|Halberd (2)
|pre 1793
|-
|Footman's Pike
|n.d.
|-
|Commemorative WWII Sword
|late 20th century
|-
|Nepalese Kukri
|c. 1919
|}
Masters and brethren
The soldiers living within the walls of the medieval building are known as the brethren. They conduct guided tours of the building and garden while dressed in ceremonial uniforms. The public cafe based in the hospital is named The Brethren's Kitchen.
A list of masters of the Lord Leycester Hospital:
{| class="wikitable"
|+List of Masters of the Lord Leycester Hospital
!Name
!Time as Master
!Name
!Time as Master
!Name
!Time as Master
|-
|Ralph Griffin
|1571-1585
|William Burman
|1728-1741
|Henry Toovey
|1901-1922
|-
|Thomas Cartwright
|1585-1603
|Charles Gore
|1741-1743
|Frederick Page
|1922-1937
|-
|Symon Buttrys
|1603-1605
|Edward Tait
|1743-1750
|James Cropper
|1937-1938
|-
|Edward Lord
|1605-1619
|Charles Scottowe
|1750-1767
|John Johnson
|1938-1943
|-
|Samuel Burton
|1619-1635
|George Lillington
|1767-1794
|John Naylor Frankland
|1943-1958
|-
|Rice Jem
|1635-1650
|John Kendall
|1794-1844
|Stuart Arnold Pears
|1958-1966
|-
|Timothy White
|1650-1661
|Henry Berners Shelley Harris
|1844-1863
|Charles Terence Bethune Tibbits
|1966-1967
|-
|Thomas Glover
|1661-1671
|Thomas Cochrane
|1863-1867
|Hugh Edward Lee
|1968-1991
|-
|Samuel Jemmat
|1671-1713
|Phillip Sidney Harris
|1867-1884
|Dermot Ian Rhodes
|1991-2004
|-
|Samuel Lydiatt
|1713-1726
|Herbert Hill
|1884-1892
|Gerald Franz Lesinski
|2004-2016
|-
|James Mashbourne
|1726-1728
|George Morley
|1893-1901
|Heidi Meyer
|2016–Present
|}
Television appearances
The building has been used in many historical-set television productions including Pride and Prejudice, Tom Jones, A Christmas Carol and the 2007 Doctor Who episode The Shakespeare Code.
Gallery
<gallery widths="180px" heights="180px">
1571 Leicester Hospital Act.jpg|The 1571 Leicester Hospital Act, licensing the Earl of Leicester to found a hospital in Warwick
Lord Leycester Hospital - geograph.org.uk - 15441.jpg|Frontage of the Lord Leycester Hospital
Leicester's Hospital, Warwick. Photograph by F. Frith. Wellcome L0026324.jpg|Leicester's Hospital, Warwick (period 1850-98) by Francis Frith
Egyptian Urn, Lord Leycester Hospital Garden, Warwick.JPG|Egyptian Urn supposedly 2,000 years old and once used as a Nilometer (A device used to measure the height of the River Nile) in Ancient Egypt
Leicester Hospital, Warwick. Wood engraving. Wellcome V0014592.jpg|Wood engraving of the walkway across the frontage at the Lord Leycester, looking towards the chapel
Lord Leycester Hospital, Warwick.jpg|Under the gallery in the courtyard of the hospital
Lord Leycester's Hospital, Warwick.jpg|Courtyard of the hospital
</gallery>
References
External links
- Official website
- British History Online Extract on the history of the Lord Leycester Hospital
- E.G. Tibbits, "The Hospital of Robert, Earl of Leicester and Warwick" published in Birmingham Archaeological Society Transactions, 1936, Vol. LX, pp. 113–144
- A. Nicholls, "Almshouses in Early Modern England Charitable Housing in the Mixed Economy of Welfare 1550-1725"<u>,</u> (2017)
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