Monument Type(s):

• ALMSHOUSE (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1901 AD)
• CHAPEL (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1901 AD)
• HOSPITAL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)

Summary

Site of a hospital of medieval date.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA1960 - 1960 field observation by the Ordnance Survey
• ESA2012 - 1993 evaluation of proposed flood alleviation scheme at Frankwell and Greyfriars, Shrewsbury by Giffords & Partners Ltd
• ESA3847 - 1994 WB at the St Georges Infant School Site, Frankwell by SCCAS
• ESA3848 - 1995 WB at the St Georges Infant School Site, Frankwell by SCCAS
• ESA7943 - 2005 DBA on NEV (Theatre Severn site) by Nigel Baker

Description

History: Founded 1221 and dissolved 1547 [<1a>]. About 1221 under the Dean and Chapter of St Chad. In TEMP Edward III Richard Pygot undertook to rebuild it, asking to be buried in the chapel of St John and St geaorge and that the work on the hospital 'by him begun' be completed. A deed of 1471 implies that the chapel of St George and the almshouse of St John were close together. The property was sold after 1549 and again in 1590. In the C17 the almshouses may have become Cole's Almshouses [<1b>]. LOCATION: Uncertain. Either in Chapel St, Frankwell (SJ4866 1290 - now obliterated) [<1c>] or in the area shown as St George's Almshouses by Speed [<1a>] <1>

Hobbs, who agrees that the origin and site of St. John's Hospital has been the subject of much speculation, says "Chapel Street, Frankwell perpetuates the site of the hospital and chapel of St. John the Baptist, which anciently stood in Frankwell near the present St. George's Boys' School...The adjacent land was subsequently known as Chapel Yards, an on this Millington's Hospital was erected in the eighteenth century". Phillips however (<2>) in a discussion of sites, says the almshouses shown on Speed's map as St. George's Almshouses were "anciently called Collde's Almshouses" (this rather supports the suggestion that the hospitals of St. John and St. George were one and the same); and that the Chapel Yard where Millington's Hospital is, belonged to Cadogan's Chapel. <1c><2>

First recorded in the 1220s, this was probably a 12th-century foundation. In its early years it may have been subordinate to St Chad's, though wardens were appointed by the Crown after 1370, suggesting that it may have been a royal foundation. It, and most of the property with which it was endowed, was in Frankwell. In 1314 William Vaughan endowed a chantry in its chapel, another was endowed in 1342 by the town bailiffs on behalf of Edmund Earl of Arundel. Richard Pigot, probably the warden, was enlarging it at the time of his death in c.1369. However, royal instructions for a visitation in 1376 alleged that it was in a delapidated condition; around this time it contained at least two brethren as well as the warden. By 1471 it was described as an almshouse. Its chapel was leased in 1523 to Richard Scriven; another part, 'the old hall', was the subject of lawsuits in the 1530s between the warden and Edmund Cole. In 1546 the hospital was said to be in great decay and ready to fall down. Its estates were sold off in 1549 with the exception of three cottages adjacent, occupied by poor inmates. The hospital itself was reserved for the use of the town in time of plague, and the cottages, known in the later 16th century as St John's Cottages, though damaged by fire in 1593, survived as Cole's Almshouses into the 17th century [<5>]. LOCATION The VCH maintains that the medieval documentation points to a site close to St George's Bridge (62403), nearly opposite the chapel of St George, on the north side of the road leading off the bridge into Frankwell [<5>] <6>

It is possible that St John's Hospital and St George's may in fact have been the same building or group of buildings, with different parts of the hospital under the control of different patrons at different times [<5>]. The 1546 deed mentions that the estate includes twelve cottages in Frankwell, which may be the almshouses identified by Speed. <7>

See also PRN 01470 for discussions on the documented close relationship between the hospitals of St John's and St George's. <8>

Detailed historical background research was undertaken in 2005 ahead of and in conjunction with the evaluation of the site of the New Entertainment Venue (NEV). This included an assessment of the recorded documentary and cartographic evidence for St John's Hospital. first recorded in the 1220s, though it may, like St George's, have been a 12th-century foundation. It appears to have been a royal foundation too, as wardens were appointed by the Crown, though it was in some way subordinate to St Chad's church, in whose parish Frankwell lay. It was rebuilt by its warden, Richard Pigot, in the mid-14th century though a visitation in 1376 alleged that it was in dilapidated condition. It was maintained as a hospital with a warden and at least two brethren through the 14th century, but by 1471 it was described as an almshouse. In 1523 part of it, including the chapel, was leased to a layman, and in the 1530 ownership of another part, including 'the old hall' was being disputed between the warden and Edwin Cole. In 1546 it was said to be in great decay and ready to fall down. Three cottages adjoining it, inhabited by paupers, escaped the sale of its estate in 1549, and the hospital chapel itself was reserved for use by the town in time of plague; the chapel still stood in the 1590s. The almshouses, known as St John's or Cole's Almshouses, were damaged by fire in 1593 but survived into the 17th century. <9>

Sources

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