St Katherine by the Tower
St Katharine's by the Tower—full name Royal Hospital and Collegiate Church of St. Katharine by the Tower—was a medieval church and hospital next to the Tower of London. The establishment was founded in 1147 and the buildings demolished in 1825 to build St Katharine Docks, which takes its name from it. It was re-established elsewhere in London and 123 years later returned once more to the East End. The church was a royal peculiar and the precinct around it was an extra-parochial area, eventually becoming a civil parish which was dissolved in 1895.
It was founded by Queen Matilda, wife of King Stephen, in 1147 in memory of two of her children, Baldwin and Matilda, who had died in infancy and been buried in the Priory Church of Holy Trinity at Aldgate. Its endowment was increased by two queens consort, Eleanor of Castile (who gave a gift of manors) and Philippa of Hainault. It was made up of three brethren, three sisters (unusually, for that time, with rights equal to those of the brothers), a bedeswoman and six "poor clerks", all under a Master. It was a religious community and medieval hospital for poor infirm people next to the Tower of London. In 1273, after a dispute over its control, Queen Eleanor granted a new Charter, reserving the Foundation’s patronage to the Queens of England. For 678 years, the Foundation carried on its work in East London despite periodic difficulties and renewal. In the 15th century its musical reputation rivalled that of St Paul's and in 1442 it was granted a Charter of Privileges, which made it and its 23-acre (93,000 m2) precinct a Liberty with its own prison, officers and court, all outside the City of London's ecclesiastical and civil jurisdiction.
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