Hospital of St John the Baptist, Arbroath
| Hospital of St John the Baptist | |
|---|---|
| Arbroath Abbey | |
Fragment of what may be the medieval doorway located within Hospitalfield House
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| Geography | |
| Location | Arbroath, Angus, Scotland |
| Coordinates | 56°33′16″N 2°36′39″W / 56.5545°N 2.6107°WCoordinates: 56°33′16″N 2°36′39″W / 56.5545°N 2.6107°W |
| Organisation | |
| Care system | Medieval Sub-Monastic care |
| Hospital type | Medieval Abbey Hospital |
| Patron | Archbishop David Beaton during 1539-1546 |
| History | |
| Founded | c. 1325 |
| Closed | c. 1560 |
| Demolished | After 1560 |
| Links | |
| Lists | Hospitals in Scotland |
| Other links | Hospitals in medieval Scotland |
The Hospital of St John the Baptist, at Arbroath, Scotland, was founded in the early 14th century by the monastic community at Arbroath Abbey. The exact date for the foundation is uncertain, but it is first recorded in 1325 during the time that Bernard of Kilwinning (1324–c.1328) was Abbot of Arbroath. The Abbey itself was founded in 1178 by King William the Lion for a group of Tironensian Benedictine monks from Kelso Abbey. It was consecrated in 1197. It is possible that the hospital was used by travellers, as a chantry or possibly almshouse.
The only visible remains of the medieval hospital are a left hand door arch which has been incorporated into the 19th-century Hospitalfield House. In the nineteenth century a chance location of about 120 skeletons in shallow graves near Hospitalfield House suggests the site of a medieval burial ground. Hospitalfield House is now an arts centre, and inspired the fictional location "Monkbarns", the home of Jonathan Oldbuck, title character of Sir Walter Scott’s novel, The Antiquary.
The history of the Hospital of St John the Baptist, "iuxta Aberbrothoc" [near Arbroath], is not certain. Miller (1860) in his History of the Abbey at Arbroath provides a workable framework. He writes:
This chapel [of St John the Baptist] stood near the mansion-house of Hospitalfield, a mile to the westward of Arbroath, and was erected in connection with the hospital or infirmary of the Abbey, established at this healthy spot at such a distance from the parent monastery as to relieve it from the risk of danger from contagious diseases.
He dates the hospital as being:
...in existence previous to the year 1325, when Abbot Bernard leased the lands of "Spedalfeilde, belonging to the hospital of Saint John Baptist, near Aberbrothoc," to Reginald de Dunbradan and Hugo Macpeesis, for five years, at a rent of forty shillings, payable to the Almory of the monastery; and took them bound to build two sufficient husbandry houses—namely, a barn forty feet long, and a byre of the same length, within one year from their entry, and to leave the same in good order on the lands at the end of their lease—a noticeable instance of progress in the management of lands, and the wisdom of the Abbot's administration.
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Wikipedia