The manor-place, or "Palace," as
it was called, has disappeared, but the almshouse and school remain,
witnesses of the munificence of the founders. The poor Duke, favourite
minister of Henry VI, was exiled by the Yorkist faction, and beheaded
by the sailors on his way to banishment. Twenty-five years of
widowhood fell to the bereaved duchess, who finished her husband's
buildings, called the almshouses "God's House," and then reposed
beneath one of the finest monuments in England in the church hard by.
The almshouses at Audley End, Essex, are amongst the most picturesque
in the country. Such are some of these charming homes of rest that
time has spared.
The old people who dwell in them are often as picturesque as their
habitations. Here you will find an old woman with her lace-pillow and
bobbins, spectacles on nose, and white bonnet with strings, engaged in
working out some intricate lace pattern. In others you will see the
inmates clad in their ancient liveries. The dwellers in the Coningsby
Hospital at Hereford, founded in 1614 for old soldiers and aged
servants, had a quaint livery consisting of "a fustian suit of ginger
colour, of a soldier-like fashion, and seemly laced; a cloak of red
cloth lined with red baize and reaching to the knees, to be worn in
walks and journeys, and a gown of red cloth, reaching to the ankle,
lined also with baize, to be worn within the hospital.
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