Hospital of St John and St James
It was around 1150, that Robert de Beaumont, the second Earl of Leicester, (also known as Robert Le Bossu), founded the Hospital of St John. The purpose was to receive those seeking accommodation, be they travellers, the poor, the sick or the elderly. By 1321, St John had the addition of St James and became known as the Hospital of St John and St James.
Whilst the hospital was not linked with any religious body, a prior and six brethren who based their lives on the rule of Augustine ran it. Situated on the site now occupied by Magdalen College School, its layout would have resembled that of a monastery, including cloisters. Sadly, none of the original hospital buildings remain today.
Robert is believed to have died at Brackley Castle in 1168. His son, Robert le Blanchmain, gifted lands to the hospital, providing it with an income and causing it to become a significant local landowner. By 1423 the hospital was closed due to successive acts of maladministration by those charged with running the hospital. It was re-opened in 1425 but the pattern of decline continued until 1484 when the hospital’s Patron, Francis Lord Lovell, granted control to William Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester. It was said he grew exhausted at the hospital’s failure to grant hospitality to those seeking it. William Waynflete has also founded Magdalen College, Oxford in 1458. As a result he made the hospital part of this estate and in 1548 Magdalen College School, Brackley was founded. St James’ Chapel became the school’s chapel.
The chapel fell into serious disrepair over the years, but was restored in 1869/70 by architect Charles Buckeridge as part of the mid-19th century Gothic revival. The oldest part of the building is the West doorway, which dates from the late 13th Century. The huddle of three Lancet Windows and figures of St John and St James above the North door, whilst marginally later additions, are of historical importance. The blocked up archways, which would have been the entrance to the cloisters and the monks’ kitchen, now lies in Magdalen College School.
In the 1930s, a stone alter was found lying across the hearth of a Tudor fireplace in the original refectory (now a classroom). Thought to be the chapel’s original alter, dedication marks (in the shape of crosses) of a medieval bishop can clearly be seen on each corner. It was put back in its rightful place in the chapel in 1936.
The chapel remains Magdalen College School, Brackley’s chapel and is said to be the oldest building in continuous use by a school in the UK – if not further afield.
Another hospital that operated in Brackley was that of St Leonard, a hospital for those with leprosy. Whilst much smaller than the other hospitals, it was set up by Robert le Blanchmain, who had a son afflicted by the illness. The hospital was operational towards the end of the 13th Century, although by the 15th Century it shared the same master as the Hospital of St James and St John and it is thought they had merged operations.
The hospital is thought to have existed to the North of Brackley, about half a mile from the main hospital. Nothing of St Leonard’s hospital has survived.
