Hospital Of St Cross
The Hospital of St Cross and Almshouse of Noble Poverty is a medieval almshouse in Winchester, Hampshire, England, founded between 1133 and 1136. It is the oldest charitable institution in the United Kingdom. The founder was Henry de Blois, Bishop of Winchester, grandson of William the Conqueror, half brother to King Stephen of England.
Not only is it the oldest but is also the largest medieval almshouse in Britain; it is built on the scale of an Oxford or Cambridge college, but is older than any of the colleges at the universities. It has been described as "England's oldest and most perfect almshouse". Most of the buildings and grounds are open to the public at certain times.
Read more about Hospital Of St Cross: Charitable Work, Architecture, Media
Famous quotes containing the words hospital of, hospital and/or cross:
“The sun his hand uncloses like a statue,
Irrevocably: thereby such light is freed
That all the dingy hospital of snow
Dies back to ditches.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“The sun his hand uncloses like a statue,
Irrevocably: thereby such light is freed
That all the dingy hospital of snow
Dies back to ditches.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“Life is a bridge. Cross over it, but build no house on it.”
—Indian proverb, quoted in Bruce Chatwin, The Songlines, ch. 30, “From the Notebooks” (1987)