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The West Berkshire Historic Environment Record (HER) is the primary index of the physical remains of past human activity in the unitary authority of West Berkshire Council. Limited elements of the West Berkshire HER are available online via the Heritage Gateway, therefore it is not suitable for use in desk-based studies associated with development, planning and land-use changes, and does not meet the requirements of paragraph 194 of the National Planning Policy Framework (2021: 56). Please read the important guidance on the use of the West Berkshire HER data. For these purposes and all other commercial enquiries, please contact the Archaeology team and complete our online HER enquiry form.



HER Number MWB3453
Record Type Monument
Name St Bartholomew's Hospital

Grid Reference SU 469 666
Map Sheet SU46NE
Parish Newbury, West Berkshire
Map:Show location on Streetmap

Summary

A hospital for the poor, aged and sick, founded prior to 1215 and with few physical remains

Associated Legal Designations or Protected Status

  • Conservation Area: Newbury Town Centre

Other Statuses and Cross-References

  • Berkshire SMR No. (pre 2000): 01389.09.000

Monument Type(s):

  • HOSPITAL (13th century to 16th century - 1201 AD? to 1600 AD?)
  • FAIR (13th century - 1219 AD to 1219 AD?)

Full Description

A HOSPITAL FOR THE AGED AND SICK FOUNDED PRE 1215. AMALGAMATED WITH GRAMMAR SCHOOL IN C16TH. ONLY REMAINS OF THESE ARE THE CHAPEL, HOSPITAL GRAVEYARD AND ALMSHOUSES. HOSPITAL BUILT AT EXTREME S END OF BARTHOLOMEW ST, PRESUMABLY WHERE LAND WAS CHEAPER- LATER ALMSHOUSES IN SAME AREA (SMR 1391.04)

Knowles and Hadcock categorise the hospital as for a warden, brethren and sisters living under religious vows, caring for the poor, aged and sick. The rule may have been that of St Augustine. It was not suppressed at the Reformation; in 1546 it apparently contained a priest and two poor men serving the chapel, the income then being over £23 <5>.
The earliest evidence for the hospital comes from the grant of a fair by King John witnessed on the 7th July 1215 <9><14>. From 1301, the episcopal registers of Sarum give the succession of the hospital wardens <10>.

In 1267 the hospital was given the right of free burial in its cemetery; this must have lain to the north and east of The Litten chapel, where large quantities of human remains have been discovered, most notably in 2004 <15>.

Little is known about the layout of the medieval hospital although comparisons with other sites suggest it is likely that it had a hall where patients were housed, as well as a kitchen, accommodation for the priests and perhaps isolation chambers. The Litten Chapel is the only upstanding remnant of the complex, and was probably built in the early 16th century, towards the end of the life of the hospital. It was almost certainly part of a larger religious building; there may also have been a cloister or courtyard.

Sources and further reading

<01>Page and Ditchfield (eds). 1924. Victoria County History (VCH) Berks IV 1924. Vol 4. P132-3. [Monograph / SWB10281]
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol4 (Accessed 24/09/2015)
<02>Berkshire Archaeological Society. 1935. Berkshire Archaeological Journal 1935 39. 39. In ADS Journals. 10.5284/1000017. P35-7; 44; 50 in St Bartholomew's Hospital, Newbury; p200-1 in Notes and Queries. [Article in serial / SWB12128]
http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/berks_bas_2007/journal.cfm?volume=39 (Accessed 27/07/2016)
<03>Newbury District Field Club. 1937. TRANS NEWBURY DISTRICT FIELD CLUB 1937 VOL 7 NO 4. p287-294 St Bartholomew's Hospital at Newbury by S Trehearne Cope. [Article in serial / SWB10479]
<04>Betjeman, J and Piper, J (eds). 1949. Murray's Berkshire Architectural Guide. P136. [Monograph / SWB10404]
<05>Knowles, D and Hadcock, R N. 1953. Medieval Religious Houses in England and Wales. P292. [Monograph / SWB11245]
<06>Hadcock, R N. 1949. GUIDE TO BOROUGH OF NEWBURY 1949. P44. [Monograph / SWB7054]
<07>Ministry of Works. 1961. ANC MONS ENG AND WALES 1961. P20. [Monograph / SWB12183]
<08>Astill, G G. 1978. Historic Towns in Berkshire: an archaeological appraisal. P51. [Monograph / SWB10869]
<09>Money, W. 1887. The History of Newbury. [Monograph / SWB11828]
http://archive.org/stream/cu31924028185811 (Accessed 02/09/2013)
<10>Ditchfield and Page (eds). 1907. Victoria County History (VCH) Berks II 1907. Vol 2. p95-7. [Monograph / SWB11244]
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol2 (Accessed 24/09/2015)
<11>Willis, John. 1768. Willis' Map of the Country ten miles round Newbury, with a plan of the Town of Newbury and of Speenhamland, 1768. 2 inch to mile?. Town Map No 2. [Map / SWB8040]
https://www.flickr.com/photos/britishlibrary/50263734041 (Accessed 16/09/2021)
<12>The Borough Museum, Newbury. 1973. Newbury Buildings Past and Present. p12, Illust p24-25. [Monograph / SWB12937]
<13>Money, W. 1905 & 1972. A Popular History of Newbury (also Walter Money's History of Newbury). p165-7. [Monograph / SWB11278]
<14>Letters, S. 2003-2009. Online Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales to 1516. [Website / SWB147588]
http://www.history.ac.uk/cmh/gaz/gazweb2.html (Accessed 25/09/2015)
<15>Oxford Archaeology. 2006. Excavations at the Litten Medieval Cemetery, Newbury, West Berkshire. OA Job No 2367. On Contractor's website. https://library.thehumanjourney.net/559/. [Unpublished document / SWB14652]
https://library.thehumanjourney.net/559/ (Accessed 22/05/2017)
<16>Davis, Cornelius. 1849. Davis' Ten Miles round Newbury, 1849. Ref No 3, 'St Bartholomew Hospital'. [Map / SWB13949]
<17>Keevil Heritage Consultancy. 2009. The Litten, Newbury, West Berkshire: Archaeological Impact Appraisal of Proposed Development. 2012 WBC Network. [Unpublished document / SWB150209]

Related Monuments

MWB99238 Pound Street, Newbury (Find Spot)
MWB3454Litten Chapel, Newtown Road, Newbury (Building)
MWB3458POUND ST, NEWBURY (Monument)
MWB3456St Bartholomew's Grammar School (Wormestall's Chantry) (Monument)
MWB3471St Bartholomew's Hospital Almshouses, Argyle Road, Newbury (Building)
MWB3457The Litten Cemetery, Newbury (Monument)
MWB3424NEWBURY (Monument)

Associated Excavations and Fieldwork

EWB868The Litten Medieval Cemetery, Newbury: Excavation (Ref: Site Code NEWR04)
EWB1940The Litten, Newbury: Heritage Impact Assessment