A rare historic setting in Chichester

The building is unique in England — only one other smaller version is known to exist, at Lübeck in Germany. The Greyfriars donated the site in the 13th century, and the timber-framed building consists of six massive oak-constructed bays with a kingpost roof over 40 feet high and a chapel at the east end. It was completed by 1292 and has been in continual use as a hospital ever since, accommodating travellers and the poor who worshipped at daily services in the chapel.

The original barn-like space was converted during the 17th century into eight single-bedroom flats, with four chimneys each providing fireplaces for two adjoining flats. Towards the end of the 19th century the two western bays were demolished, and the space now serves as an entrance courtyard. Mid-twentieth-century improvements added kitchens, bathrooms, a common room, office and laundry, reducing the number of flats to five. Following the completion of St Mary’s Courtyard in 2003, the medieval hospital underwent a major renovation, converting and upgrading the residents’ accommodation into four larger apartments.

The four original cottages, converted into married quarters early last century, face onto St Martin’s Square, with residents’ access from the communal garden on the east side. As the staircases were awkward for elderly residents, listed building consent was granted to convert and upgrade the accommodation into flats. Work commenced in March 2005 and was completed by August of the same year. The Cottages now offer much more accessible accommodation: one first-floor and two ground-floor flats, plus a guest room for residents’ visitors.

The site at the north end of Little London was converted and extended from individual cottages into almshouses during the 1980s. The accommodation consists of twelve flats with lift access, facing onto a small courtyard garden to the west. The Lodge is about 500 metres’ walk from the medieval hospital.

The Courtyard comprises six flats, a guest room for residents’ visitors, a staff bedsit, office accommodation and a communal meeting room, residents’ lounge, kitchen and laundry. Opened by HRH the Prince of Wales in June 2003, it provides a meeting place for residents from nearby flats and off-street pedestrian access to the medieval hospital and chapel. A public competition for a sculpture drew over one hundred applications; the winner, from four shortlisted contestants, was Helen Sinclair’s group of five contemporary figures holding hands in a circle — a concept based on the core group of five residents who occupied the hospital during the fifteenth century.

Three additional almshouse flats have been created in more recent years through the conversion and extension of the former Warden and Bailiff’s house — the Porter’s Lodge — and the re-designation of a previously rented adjacent flat in St Martin’s Square.

Work commenced in the summer of 2005 to completely redesign the main Hospital garden and enhance the south view of the medieval building. Ground levels were reduced and new planting borders constructed. The new garden was formally opened by HRH Princess Alexandra on 16th May 2006 and continues to mature, enjoyed by all the residents at St Mary’s.

Before the 19th century, six earlier almshouses stood on the north side of The Hornet but had become severely dilapidated and unfit for habitation by 1802. Martha Dear left a £1,000 legacy to refurbish them into four units, called The Dear’s Almshouses. After 1960 they too needed replacing, and the Corporation of St Pancras built four new almshouses off Riverside, completed in 1970. With the support of St Mary’s Hospital, four further units were completed on the same site in 2021, and St Mary’s now manages the complex of eight houses. The tradition of Christmas dinners for residents, led by the City and St Pancras Mayors, continues to this day in the form of hampers and gifts.