Spital-in-the-Street is a small hamlet in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the A15 road ( Roman Ermine Street), north from Lincoln, east from Gainsborough, and north from the A15 and

A631 The A631 is a road running from Sheffield, South Yorkshire to Louth, Lincolnshire in England. It passes through the counties of South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. The road has many towns on its route including Rotherham, Mal ...

crossroad at Caenby Corner. Nearby villages include Hemswell to the west, Glentham to the east, and Glentworth to the south-west.

History

Spital-in-the-Street lies on Ermine Street, a Roman road that runs in a straight line for between Lincoln and the

Humber Estuary The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the ...

, passing through no villages north from Lincoln until Broughton away. The first part of its name, "Spital", comes from the ancient

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

for the poor which was situated here, having its origins in a Hermitage. Hermits, or 'Eremites' dwellers in the ''eremos'' or

wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

, commonly placed their Hermitages in remote spots, often on highways, to extend hospitality to travellers. The chapel attached to the hermitage was dedicated to

St Edmund Saint Edmund may refer to: * Saint Edmund the Martyr (d. 869), king of East Anglia who was venerated as a martyr saint soon after his death at the hands of Vikings * Saint Edmund Arrowsmith (1585–1628), Jesuit, one of the Forty Martyrs of England ...

Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...

granted a licence for land and rent to be appropriated by the Vicar of Tealby for the payment of the

Chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

; and by a document signed at Tealby in 1323 and witnessed by nearly all the dignitaries of

Lincoln Cathedral Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln Minster, or the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln and sometimes St Mary's Cathedral, in Lincoln, England, is a Grade I listed cathedral and is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Lincoln. Constructio ...

the foundation was placed under the jurisdiction of the Dean and Chapter. Ten years later the hermitage was called “Spital-on-the-Street” so its use had probably already been enlarged, although there is no documentary evidence of this. All that is known is the building of a house for the Chaplain by John of Harrington in 1333. A fair and a market were inaugurated in 1324. In 1396

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died ...

granted to Thomas de Aston, Canon of Lincoln, leave to build a house "adjoining the west side of the chapel for the residence of William Wyhom the Chaplain and of certain poor persons there resident and their successors", and before the end of the 14th century it had buildings sufficient for these poor persons. It escaped

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

’s dissolution of the monasteries only to be later seized by Elizabeth I for the Crown and sold. The

Sessions Sessions may refer to: * Sessions (surname), a surname * Sessions (clothing company), an American apparel company * Sessions Clock Company, an American clock manufacturer in the early 20th century Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Sessions' ...

for the Kirton division of Lindsey were for many years held in the chapel, but it fell into disrepair and was pulled down by Sir William Wray in 1594 with a new Session's House built nearby. In 1660 Robert Mapletoft of

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

was appointed Sub-Dean of Lincoln Cathedral and also Master of the Spital Hospital; he rebuilt the chapel in 1661 and set about improving the hospital's revenues. By the mid-19th century, the Charity Commissioners estimated the hospital's revenues to be £959 per year, although they said that most of this was being misappropriated. This money, a considerable amount, was eventually recovered and used to endow De Aston School in Market Rasen, to restore Lincoln Grammar School and pay the

alms Alms (, ) are money, food, or other material goods donated to people living in poverty. Providing alms is often considered an act of virtue or Charity (practice), charity. The act of providing alms is called almsgiving, and it is a widespread p ...

of four neighbouring parishes.Stopp, Peter. ''Bishop Norton - A Lincolnshire Parish History''. Bishop Norton Village Hall Committee, 1986, p.5 The chapel was restored in 1864 but by the end of the 19th century the hospital had been abandoned and only the chapel remained, falling ever further into dereliction until being restored once again in the 1990s.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Hamlets in Lincolnshire West Lindsey District