Hospital of St John Old Stratford

The History of a Forest Village by O. F. Brown and G. J. Roberts

In the early part of the century Letitia de Ferrers made three grants to the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem which read as follows:

The Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem had the gift of Letitia de Ferrers the tenement which William de Saraz held of her in Passenham, viz: the cotland which Leticia the daughter of Alstan held and so as Pagan afterwards held it; and a certain holm between two bridges, and eleven acres of her demesne in Duneshang, and an acre of meadow in Sidenham near the church acre, and five roods covered with water; to hold quit of all services, so that Manaser son of the said William de Saraz may hold of them the said tenement in right of inheritance, rendering to them 40 pence yearly for all services.

By another deed Leticia gave to the blessed poor of the Hospital of Jerusalem, for the souls of her father and mother and her brother Earl Robert, a certain virgate of her land which Spileman son of Wodeman held in Dunshang, together with Spileman himself with all his children and chattels; and also to the hospital of of Stratford and two acres of land. The deed is witnessed by Richard Baligan, Hugh de Cheinei, and all the halimote of Passenham.

At that time [i.e. c. 1170] it is recorded that Richard Baligan holds the mill in right of inheritance rendering to the Hospital 2 marks [£1 6s 8d] annually.

Following the capture of Jerusalem in the First Crusade at the close of the 11^th century, the Order of St. John was founded and a hospice established there to care for the sick and needy traveller; and in the age of Christianity, the Order with its combination of religion, charity and crusading spirit gained adherence throughout the Western world.

The actual site of the ‘hospital of Stratford’ has long been the subject of speculation. The principal cause of confusion arises from the interpretation of the place-name Stratford, or Stony Stratford, which derives from the Old English (Anglo-Saxon) ‘ford on the stone street’, denoting the old metalled road left by the Romans. The original settlement appears to have been on the Northamptonshire side of the river, but by the 14^th century a township was springing up on the south bank in Buckinghamshire. This retained the name Stony Stratford and after a period of some confusion the early settlement became known as Old Stratford.

Stony Stratford is still referred to as being in Northamptonshire in a Charter Roll of 1307 recording the gift to John de Haustede of ‘the Manor of Deneshangre and a piece of wood in Whittelwode, and all the lands rents and fees in Wykedyve, Wykehamond, Passenhem, Stone Stretford, Fortho, Pokesle,and Whitefeld county Northampton’; and again in 1333 a CloseRoll refers to ‘the Manor of Passenham with its members of Deanshanger, Puxley and Stony Stratford’, (the Manor of Passenham has never extended to the Buckinghamshire side of the River Ouse). A Close Roll of 1367 refers to ‘Stony-stratteford’, Co. Northants. Further evidence is adduced by Baker who writes:

The Chapel of the hospital of St. John upon the causeway leading to the bridge at Stone Streford mentioned by Bishop Tanner, and which he conjectures to have been on the Northants. side of the river [Tanner’s Notit., p. 31], may with little hesitation be identified with the hermitage and free-chapel in Old Stratford, of the site of which, with the lands thereto belonging, Edward Furtho esq. died seised of in 18 Jac. [1620] having lately purchased them of Geo. Ferne gent .

This identification of the hospital of St. John with the hermitage or free chapel appears to be incorrect. The Elizabethan Survey and a Patent Roll of 4 Eliz. 1562 make it clear that these were separate institutions on different sites. The hermitage was probably situated at the brow of the hill at Old Stratford whereas a possible site for the hospital would be between the river and the Deanshanger Road, where the Saracen’s Head Inn and a close of two acres was sold by Lord Maynard to William Clarke in 1753. This close (between the present River Garage and the Deanshanger Road) might represent the two acres granted with the hospital by Letitia de Ferrers.

Hospitals then were of course not as we think of them today, but were primarily religious houses providing a haven of refuge for the traveller and for the sick and needy; and the site at Old Stratford, near the ford on a main route, seems an obvious choice for such an institution.

The second grant of Letitia de Ferrers quoted above states that she gave ‘to the blessed poor of the Hospital of Jerusalem … the hospital of Stratford and two acres of land’, which suggests that it was founded at this time (i.e. between 1100 and 1135). Its exact role and subsequent history are somewhat vague, but there are a few references to its activities and duration. Baker states:

In 27 Hen. 3 (1243) William Fitz-Walkelin and Joyce his wife, levied a fine of two messuages, two acres of land, and the moiety of a small mill at Passenham to John Baligan son of Anketil  Baligan [Hatton MSS. Fin. 27 Hen. 3]. Under the head of Blakesley Manor in an undated roll of the possessions of the hospitallers is entered, 26s. 8d. yearly rent out of a watermill and fifteen acres of land which John Baligan holds in Passenham, 3s yearly rent out of a certain tenement there, 2s yearly rent put of a messuage and virgate of land there which John de Wykemilne holds, and view of the frank-pledge of certain free tenants in Passenham belonging to the said manor in Blakesley worth 6d. yearly. [Rot. Penes H.H.H. Hungerford arm.]

A Patent Roll of 1257 refers to a leper hospital without Stony Stratford dedicated to St. John the Baptist.

A Close Roll of 1265 orders the Custodian of the Forest of Whittlewood to give to the brethren of the hospital of St. John of Stanistratford two oaks from the wood of Puxley.

Apparently it was ‘partially rebuilt between 1306 and 1310 and appears thereafter as a hospital for the poor and is given leave to solicit alms’. The Inquisition Post Mortem in 1328 of the lands held by Henry Spigurnel refers to ‘one virgate of land and one acre of meadow held of the prior of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem by service of 40d. yearly [8] By the middle of the 14^th century it is described as being in ruins.

In 1558, [18] the old order of the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem was refounded and established at ‘Clerkynwell’; and their old estates restored to them, including’ rents, lands, mills etc. in … Passenham, Towcester, Denshanger in Passenham …’. It is not clear whether this includes the water mill at Passenham, but it is significant that the Elizabethan Survey of 1591 lists only a windmill at Passenham as belonging to the Crown, which leads us to suppose that the old water mill was in other hands – presumably the hospitallers. No further reference to it occurs till we find it included in the Manor of Passenham in 1708, mentioned in a Glebe Terrier.

A grant of 1562 of late monastic property includes the possessions in ‘Oldestratford, Gosgrave and Passenham’ of the ‘hermitage or free chapel of Oldestratford’. In the section ‘Church and Parish’ in the chapter ‘Early Middle Ages’ we quoted Baker (History Northants.), who identified the Chapel of St. John with the hermitage at Old Stratford. This view appears to be incorrect, since this hermitage land was not granted to the Knights Hospitallers in 1558 (v.s.), and therefore was presumably not previously connected with the hospital. The Elizabethan Survey would appear to locate the hermitage at the top of the hill at Old Stratford, and therefore it must have been a separate and unconnected institution. The earliest reference to it occurs in 1494 when Thomas Pesenest of Stony Stratford bequeathed ‘To the hermitage of St. John by Olde Stratford 12d.’

In a document of c. 1170 in which William de Fetters confirms a grant to the Hospitallers made by his Aunt Letitia in the reign of Henry I of 'a mill at Passenham'. At that time [i.e. c. 1170] it is recorded that Richard Baligan holds the mill in right of inheritance rendering to the Hospital 2 marks [£1 6s. 8d.] annually.[3]

This last deed, by indicating that Letitia made this grant in the time of Henry I, places the donation within the period 1100 to 1135, and it is more than likely that the other two gifts were made at approximately the same time. Endowments of this nature were commonly made to religious orders by wealthy people to provide for perpetual prayers for their departed relatives.

The actual site of the 'hospital of Stratford' has long been the subject of speculation. The principal cause of confusion arises from the interpretation of the place-name Stratford, or Stony Stratford, which derives from the Old English (Anglo-Saxon) 'ford on the stone street', denoting the old metalled road left by the Romans. The original settlement appears to have been on the Northamptonshire side of the river, but by the 14th century a township was springing up on the south bank in Buckinghamshire. This retained the name Stony Stratford and after a period of some confusion the early settlement became known as Old Stratford.

Stony Stratford is still referred to as being in Northamptonshire in a Charter Roll of 1307 recording the gift to John de Haustede of 'the Manor of Deneshangre and a piece of wood in Whittelwode and all the lands rents and fees in Wykedyve, Wykehamond, Passenham, Stone Stretford, Fortho, Pokesle, and Whitefeld county Northampton; and again in 1333 a Close Roll refers to 'the Manor of Passenham with its members of Deanshanger, Puxley and Stony Stratford', (the Manor of Passenham has never extended to the Buckinghamshire side of the River Ouse). A Close Roll of 1367 refers to 'Stony-stratteford', Co. Northants. Further evidence is adduced by Baker who writes: [4]

The Chapel of the hospital of St. John upon the causeway leading to the bridge at Stone Stretford mentioned by Bishop Tanner, and which he conjectures to have been on the Northants. side of the river [Tanner's Notit., p. 31] , may with little hesitation be identified with the hermitage and free-chapel in Old Stratford, of the site of which, with the lands thereto belonging, Edward Furtho esq. died seised in 18 Jac. [1620] having lately purchased them of Geo. Ferne gent. [Esc. 19 Jac., p.1, n.391.

This identification of the hospital of St. John with the hermitage or free chapel appears to be incorrect. The Elizabethan Survey and a Patent Roll of 4 Eliz. 1562 make it clear that these were separate institutions on different sites. The hermitage was probably situated at the brow of the hill at Old Stratford, whereas a possible site for the hospital would be between the river and the Deanshanger Road, where the Saracen's Head Inn and a close of two acres was sold by Lord Maynard to William Clarke in 1753. This close (between the present River Garage and the Deanshanger Road) might represent the two acres granted with the hospital by Letitia de Ferrers.

Hospitals then were of course not as we think of them today, but were primarily religious houses providing a haven of refuge for the traveller and for the sick and needy; and the site at Old Stratford, near the ford, on a main route, seems an obvious choice for such an institution. The second grant of Letitia de Ferrers quoted above states that she gave to the blessed poor of the Hospital of Jerusalem ... the hospital of Stratford and two acres of land', which suggests that it was founded at this time (i.e. between 1100 and 1135). Its exact role and subsequent history are somewhat vague, but there are a few references to its activities and duration. Baker states:

In 27 Hen. 3 (1243) William Fitz-Walkelin and Joyce his wife, levied a fine of two messuages, two acres of land, and the moiety of a mill at Passenham to John Baligan son of Anketil Baligan [Hatton MSS. Fin. 27 Hen. 3] . Under the head of Blakesley Manor in an undated roll of the possessions of the hospitallers is entered, 26s. 8d. yearly rent out of a watermill and fifteen acres of land which John Baligan holds in Passenham, 3s. yearly rent out of a certain tenement there, 2s. yearly rent out of a messuage and virgate of land there which John de Wykemilne holds, and view of frank-pledge of certain free tenants in Passenham belonging to the said manor in Blakesley worth 6d. yearly. [Rot. penes H.H.H. Hungerford arm.]

A Patent Roll of 1257[5] refers to a leper hospital without Stony Stratford dedicated to St. John the Baptist. A Close Roll of 1265[6] orders the Custodian of the Forest of Whitticwood to give to the brethren of the hospital of St. John of Stanistratford two oaks from the wood of Puxley.

Apparently it was ‘partially rebuilt between 1306 and 1310 and appears thereafter as a hospital for the poor and is given leave to solicit alms’. [7] The Inquisition Post Mortem in 1328 of the lands held by Henry Spigurnel refers to ‘one virgate of land and one acre of meadow held of the prior of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem by service of 40d. yearly’. [8] By the middle of the 14^th century it is described as being in ruins. [7]