St John's House in The Boradway, Winchester, Hampshire. The site has been use since the 10th century as a meeting place.
St. John's House is a Grade 1 listed building which is owned by the St John's Winchester Charity. Its roots are believed to be in the 10th Century when the site on which St. John's House now stands is thought to have been used as a hospital. Its more recent history is more verifiable and there are clear references to St. John's Hospital from the early 13th Century. The chapel next door dates from this period and the "sick and lame soldiers, poor pilgrims and wayfaring men" the hospital is said to have served must originally have been accommodated within its nave. By 1332 a second chapel dedicated to St. Mary was built and part of the Western Wall of this chapel, with original windows and doorway, still survive in the Undercroft. The main structure of St. John's House was added on to the western side of St. John's Hospital in the 14th Century. A right of way was incorporated which ran back from the Broadway past the front of the two chapels. The rest of the ground floor consisted of twin infirmaries separated by a spinal wall, with one connecting door near the West end. During building renovation in 1981, details of the infirmaries were revealed and recorded by the Archaeology section of the Winchester Museums Service. A series of large rectangular recesses were identified, probably used as cupboards for personal belongings. These suggest the hospital would have accommodated about twenty patients in the late mediaeval period. The original floor was found to have been about 20 inches below the modern surface; it had been raised in the 19th Century, probably because of dampness. The first floor hall was where the burghmote or town assembly met, where civic meetings and feasts were held, and where deeds and other city muniments were kept, including the City Seal. In the late 18th Century the first floor of St. John's House was dramatically altered when the roof was raised by about 7 feet and the interior completely refurbished to provide an elegant Assembly Room wh
Size: 4287px × 2848px
Location: Wincehster, Hampshire, England
Photo credit: © Paul Heinrich / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: assembly, england, georgian, historic, history, house, john, meeting, rooms, st, winchester
