Eastbridge Hospital
Owner of a majority of the Greyfriars site, Eastbridge Hospital is not part of a modern NHS trust but is a very ancient institution that predates the coming of the Franciscan friars.
Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered in the cathedral in December 1170. Almost immediately afterwards, his tomb and the scene of his death became a focus of pilgrimage. The city had to provide accommodation for the large number of visitors, and Eastbridge Hospital was founded to meet that need. It was (and is) a 'hospital' in the old sense of the word – a place of hospitality.
It is likely that Eastbridge Hospital was in existence by 1176, just five years after Becket's assassination. Its first master appears to have been Ralph, Becket's 'nephew' (who might actually have been his son).
Rich hospital, poor pilgrims From gifts of land and money, the hospital soon became rich. It was probably at its peak in the 1380s when Chaucer was writing the Canterbury Tales.
It provided two nights of free food and shelter for poor and sick pilgrims. They slept in the undercroft – dividing walls forming the cubicles in which they slept, probably in twos – and they ate in the refectory. The north wall of this was decorated in the early 13th century with a mural showing Christ in glory between the symbols of the four evangelists.
The pilgrims worshipped – as they still can today – in the chapel (left). The magnificent roof here dates from about 1285.
Decline and alms
Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1530s and '40s – including the destruction of Becket's tomb – the hospital went into decline. In 1584 it became an almshouse, providing accommodation for up to 10 poor people of Canterbury, and was also made responsible for the shelter and care of wounded soldiers passing through the city and for a school for 20 boys.
The school closed in 1880, so soldiers have to find comfort elsewhere nowadays. Eastbridge Hospital still looks after the poor of Canterbury, providing eight self-contained flats and a common room for elderly people.
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