Eastbridge Hospital

Eastbridge Hospital of St Thomas the Martyr
Eastbridge Hospital of Saint Thomas the Martyr.
Geography
Location	Canterbury, England, United Kingdom
Coordinates	Coordinates: 51°16′47″N 1°04′42″E / 51.27985°N 1.07833°E / 51.27985; 1.07833
Services
Emergency department	No Accident & Emergency
Helipad	No
History
Founded	12th century
Links
Lists	Hospitals in England

The Hospital of St Thomas the Martyr of Eastbridge was founded in the 12th century in Canterbury, England, to provide overnight accommodation for poor pilgrims to the shrine of St Thomas Beckett. It is now one of the ten almshouses still providing accommodation for elderly citizens of Canterbury and is a grade I listed building.

The hospital is situated on the King's-bridge, near the Westgate, in Canterbury. It was established sometime after the death of Thomas Becket (1170), possibly as early as 1176, when Canterbury Cathedral became a site of pilgrimage; the hospital provided accommodation for the pilgrims. The earliest name recorded as founder is that of Edward FitzOdbold c. 1190, with further endowments by Archbishop Hubert Walter about 1203. For many years, no special statutes were enacted, nor were any rules laid down for the treatment of pilgrims.

In the fourteenth century the Hospital was reformed by Archbishop John de Stratford, during the reign of Edward III; he created ordinances, as well as a code of regulations to be acted on concerning pilgrims. He ruled that every pilgrim in health could rest in the lodgment for one night at the cost of four pence, that weak and infirm applicants were to be preferred to those with better health, and that women "upwards of forty" should attend to the bedding and administer medicines to the sick. He also appointed a Master in priest's orders, under whose guidance a secular chaplain served. Further lands and revenues from parishes were given by Stratford and by Archbishop Simon Sudbury.

This institution survived the Dissolution of the Monasteries and other religious houses during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, although the pilgrimage to St Thomas of Canterbury did not survive this period. In 1569 Archbishop Matthew Parker issued new ordinances governing the Hospital and its Master which specified the maintenance of twelve beds for the 'wayfaring poor' and established a school in the chapel for twenty boys. This arrangement was confirmed by Archbishop John Whitgift by Act of Parliament in 1584.