HER 314 DESCRIPTION:- Scheduled Monument Description:- Not Available The hospital of St John the Baptist was founded in 1228 by Isabella de Mortimer for a prior, six Augustinian priests and lay brothers and sisters ministering to the poor and sick. By 1462 it was to impoverished to maintain the objects of its foundation and in 1472 was dissolved, its revenues being used to maintain a chantry at Lechlade. Its ruins were used as a stone quarry. When the road from the Trout Inn to the Priory was made in 1774, foundation stones were dug up, and many skeletons were found in what was supposed to be old burial ground of the Hospital and Priory. This new road is thought to be the present Kelmscott Road. {Source Work 9452.} 1900 - Human skeletons, coins, tiles & worked stones were discovered by W Sturgeon c.1900 on the site of the priory and finds from his excavations were preserved in "The Bungalow". {Source Work 862.} The owner of the site of the Priory, Mr. Wentworth Sturgeon, made a series of excavations, resulting in the finding of a number of very interesting remains. In one part no less than forty skeletons of monks, in a perfect state of preservation and with teeth still white, were found, and about 100 feet from these, the single skeleton of a woman, which may have been that of the foundress, or the Prioress of the Convent. Besides these, coins and tiles, with numerous worked stones, were discovered, and preserved in one of the rooms of the Bungalow, forming a veritable museum of the most interesting character. {Source Work 9452.} The location of these excavations is not clear so the information on this 'event' will remain recorded with this monument. {Pers. Comm. AM 22/10/2014.} "The Trout Inn" (SU22329910) formerly known as "St John the Baptists Head', is traditionally said to be the south part of the hospital, but has no external features of pre-Reformation date. {Source Work 862.} The site of this hospital is now occupied by a caravan park. There are no remains. 17th century octagonal token of Ralph Langney found on the site - in possession of the finder. (PRN 8743 quoted on SMR Amendment sheet but not located.) 1988 site visit during drainage works to the north of St John's Hospital, Lechlade. No archaeological features were observed or finds recorded. {Source Work 12678.} 2019- Description generated from NHRE to HER project: SU 224992 St John's Hospital scheduled under "Ecclesiastical Buildings". {Source Work 2873.} Some of the hospital buildings were demolished circa 1520 and the material used to repair the bridge (SU 29 NW 10), but Leland some years later reported seeing a chapel and large enclosures of stone walls. An effort was made to preserve the site when the site was used for building a parish workhouse in 1763, but they were disturbed on several occasions subsequently. In 1977 the site was in use as a permanent caravan park. {Source Work 16497.} {Source Works 4249.} |