It was founded by the
corporation of the town in 1702 for the reception of twenty old
fishermen and their wives. It is a charming house of rest, with its
gables and dormer windows and its general air of peace and repose. The
old men look very comfortable after battling for so many years with
the storms of the North Sea. Charles II granted to the hospital an
annuity of L160 for its support, which was paid out of the excise on
beer, but when the duty was repealed the annuity naturally ceased.
The old hospital at King's Lynn was destroyed during the siege, as
this quaint inscription tells:--
THIS HOSPITAL WAS
BURNT DOWN AT LIN
SEGE AND REBULT
1649 NATH MAXEY
MAYOR AND EDW
ROBINSON ALDMAN
TREASURER PRO TEM
P.R.O.
Norwich had several important hospitals. Outside the Magdalen gates
stood the Magdalen Hospital, founded by Bishop Herbert, the first
bishop. It was a house for lepers, and some portions of the Norman
chapel still exist in a farm-building by the roadside. The far-famed
St. Giles's Hospital in Bishopsgate Street is an ancient foundation,
erected by Bishop Walter Suffield in 1249 for poor chaplains and other
poor persons. It nearly vanished at the Reformation era, like so many
other kindred institutions, but Henry VIII and Edward VI granted it a
new charter.
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