Ilford Hospital Chapel
Coordinates: 51°33′28″N 0°04′08″E / 51.5579°N 0.0689°E
The Hospital Chapel of St Mary the Virgin and St Thomas of Canterbury, Ilford, also known as Ilford Hospital Chapel is on Ilford Hill in Ilford. It is an ancient charitable foundation dating from about 1140, and is the oldest building in the London Borough of Redbridge. Since 1954 it has been protected as a Grade II* listed building under UK legislation.
The hospital was built on the south side of Ilford Hill on land owned by the Benedictine Abbey of Barking. It was founded in the reign of King Stephen, by the Abbess Adelicia (or Adeliza), as a hospice for thirteen residents. Historians differ on whether the hospital was for old and infirm men or for lepers. Adelicia endowed the foundation generously, with 120 acres of assart land in Estholt, two hides of land in Upminster and Aveley, a mill in Ilford, half the income of the parish church at Barking, and the tithe of all her mills in the parish. The hospital was governed by a Prior, a Master or Warden, and there were two chaplains.
In 1173 Mary Becket was appointed Abbess. She was the sister of Thomas Becket, and under her abbacy the chapel was enlarged and the name of her murdered brother was added to its title. The Abbey of Barking was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1539, but the hospital survived, and was taken over by the Crown. The charitable trust that now manages the property believes that this survival was probably due to the function of the chapel as a place of public worship as well as part of the hospice. At the time of the dissolution, the hospital's revenues were valued at £16.1s.6½d.
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