A History of St Bartholomew’s Hospital

St Bartholomew’s Hospital is our oldest property, and one of the oldest buildings in Newbury. It is located in the City area of Newbury, close to our other almshouses, and it is a significant building with a lot of interesting history. The current buildings date back to 1698, when a sum of money from Kendrick's charity was loaned to rebuild the almshouses. There is a later date of 1839 on the rear of the building, that relates to a refurbishment at that time.

St Bartholomew’s Hospital was founded by what was probably Newbury’s oldest charity, dating back to the time of King John or perhaps even earlier. The first record of St Bart’s is from 1215, when King John granted Newbury a charter for a fair to be held at the feast of St Bartholomew, the proceeds of which were to go to St Bartholomew's Hospital. As a result, the almshouses are also known as King John’s Almshouses and bear the royal arms. It was originally established as a religious house supporting a priest and a number of poor brothers, but as it had declined into an almshouse by the time of the dissolution of the monasteries, it was safe from Henry VIII’s dissolution acts in 1536. In 1554 and 1578, there was further mention of court proceedings that confirmed the hospital was priory land for the use of the poor and not a religious house, which protected it from dissolution.

In 1598, after the master of the almshouse died without a will and with serious debts, the Commissioners under the Statute of Charitable Uses investigated the hospital and dismissed the trustees, giving full control of the almshouses and associated property to the Mayor of Newbury and the Corporation.

Hundreds of years passed, but by 1801, there was a brewing scandal around how the funds of St Bartholomew’s had been used. According to the Charity Commission Inquiry, a loan from the fund had bailed out Newbury Corporation, who denied the claim and would not repay the loan. Between 1816-1818 George Gray, a local lawyer, wrote and printed a series of anonymous letters accusing the Corporation and Church of corruption. Further criticism followed throughout the years. In 1835, The Report of the Municipal Corporations Commission showed that 'the accounts of the numerous charities for which the Corporation are trustees were blended with one another…. In the most irregular and slovenly manner’. Large debts were owed by the Corporation and the Town Clerk. When the old Corporation of Newbury ceased to exist in 1837, Municipal Trustees were appointed for the management of the charities. In 1900, a scheme was established by order of the Charity Commissioners that combined all the municipal charities of Newbury under the name of the Consolidated Municipal Charities and placed them under the management of 14 trustees.

For St Bartholomew’s Hospital, the Charity Commission Inquiry of 1906 stated that the almshouse (as St John's Almshouse) was home to seven men and six women, each receiving 5s a week, with clothing and fuel provided. By 1946 there was talk of modernisation for the almshouses, including wash houses and other improvements. In 1969 St Bartholomew's Hospital residents had back boilers and handbasins installed. Gradually over the years, with further modernisation both in the houses themselves and how almshouses function, clothing and fuel were reduced, and a maintenance charge introduced.