The Hospital of Ewelme: In 1437 Licence was given to William de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, & Alice his wife, to Establish an Almshouse at Ewelme & to Endow it with Land to the value of 100-Marks yearly. By 1442 the Foundation was complete, the Endowments being the Manors of Conock, Ramridge, & Marsh Gibbon, worth £59 a yr; but the Statutes drawn up by the Founder date from 1448-50. From them, we learn that the Inmates were to be 2-Priests & 13 Poor Men. Each of the Former was to receive £10 a yr, each of the Latter 14d a week. One of the Priests was to be the Master; the other was to be a Teacher of Grammar to instruct, Free of charge, the Boys of Ewelme and of the 3 other Manors from which the House derived its Income. The Master was to be, if possible, of the University of Oxford & was to be chosen by the Lord of the Manor of Ewelme, who also was to fill up all the other Posts. The 13-Poor Men were to be such as had no means of Livelihood, aged or infirm & in selecting them preference was to be shown to men of Ewelme, Conock, Ramridge & Marsh Gibbon. The Brethren were to have Cloaks with a red cross on the breast & none with leprosy or an ‘intolerable disease’ were to be admitted.
The Almshouse of St Johns Hospital which he & his Duchess Founded for “2-Chaplains & 13-Poor Men,” endowing it with Manors of the Annual Value of £59. The Foundation escaped the Rapacious Reforming Nobles & still exists, a blessing to Ewelme. Its Outward aspect seems to have been little changed, & its Cloisters & Quadrangle furnish a fine specimen Domestic Architecture of the Period.
They were not bound to a Rule of Absolute Poverty; one who came into Property worth £4 a yr must leave the House but if the sum were Less he might remain an Inmate & was allowed to receive ½ the Sum which he had Inherited, the House taking the other ½. Whatever Property they had at the time of death was to come to the House. All Members were to be present daily at Mattins, Mass, Evensong & the Hours, to be said in the adjoining Parish Church, where there was a Stall for each Inmate. The Visitor was to be the Lord of the Manor, and as a Rule, he was to make a Visitation every year. In 1526 the Income of the Almshouse was £64, but in the Valor of 1535, it is not Assessed. This Favour, and its Escape at the Dissolution, are no doubt to be put down to the fact that Ewelme was a favourite Royal Manor and the King was the immediate Patron of the Almshouse. At the beginning of the 19thC the Lordship of the Manor of Ewelme, put up for Sale by the Crown, was bought by the Earl of Macclesfield & his Heir became the Patron of the Almshouse & has the right of nominating the Inmates; but the Post of Master was Granted by King James I in 1617 to augment the Stipend of the Regius Professor of Medicine & since 1628 has been attached to that Professorship.
Masters of the Hospital of Ewelme
John Seyngsbery, appointed 1442, died 1454
William Marton, appointed 1st February 1455, died 1494
William Branwhaite, died 1498
John Spence, appointed 1498 or 1499, died 1517
William Umpton, occurs 1526
William Marshall, occurs 1535.
The 15thC Seal is a Pointed Oval: in 2-carved Niches with elaborate Canopies & Tabernacle work at the sides, on the left St John Baptist, standing, with Nimbus, holding the Agnus Dei in the right-hand & pointing to it with the left-hand; on the right a Female Saint with Nimbus, holding in the right-hand a Sword. In the Base, under a flat-headed Arch, a Shield of Arms – per pale, dex., a Fesse between 3-Leopards’ Heads, William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk; sin, a Lion Rampant queue fourchée, Alice Chaucer, his wife, Founders, AD 1437
As 1st Built the Almshouse Cloister included accommodation for 13-Almsmen, ranged around a Courtyard & accessed from a covered Walkway with a Pentice Roof. Eleven of the Units comprised a Single Upstairs & Downstairs Room linked probably by a recessed Stair or Ladder, with a Stone window (possibly glazed) in the External Wall, a Timber-mullioned Window to the Cloister & a Fireplace possibly on each Floor. Two Units in the North-east Range comprised adjoining Ground-Floor Rooms. Between them, a Stairway leads up to the Church through a covered Passage, flanked on the left by a 1st-Floor Common Hall & on the right by what appears to have always been the Almshouse Masters Accommodation. The Hall retains its original Roof & a Fireplace against the North Wall; its Westernmost Bay was Partitioned as a Strong-room, probably by 1459-60 when alterations were made to the ‘inner Chamber’. The Masters Accommodation was probably also heated & possibly included a Ground-floor Kitchen, but later alterations have obscured its layout. The Cloisters external Walling is mostly rubble (formerly rendered), with Brick used sparingly & for effect, while Roofs were Tiled from the outset. The Central Well is Original and was replaced with a Pump by the 1820s.
Oxon claims at Ewelme to have the oldest Primary School in England still in Daily use. The School & the adjoining Almshouses were Founded by the Earl & Countess of Suffolk in 1437 & Buckler’s Drawing in 1821 shows the sturdy 15thC Brick School Building in the foreground, 200-yrs later, the View is unchanged.
The South-west Porch, with its Flemish-inspired decorative Brickwork, is an addition associated with the adjoining Domestic Range, which was probably allocated to the Grammar Master from its Construction & may have also included Rooms for Guests & Entertainment. The 15thC part comprises a 3-Bay Timber-framed House encased in contemporary Brick, with a narrower annexe of similar Construction linking it to the Cloister through surviving 15thC Doorways. Blocked windows are visible in the North-West Wall & a massive Chimney Stack in the South-West Gable Wall is Original. The Roof was originally Open to the Apex & some Timbers at 1st-Floor Level retain traces of early-16thC Painted Decoration. A 2-Storeyed Block at the South-East Corner was added in 1773/4 when the Older part was remodelled & probably re-fenestrated.
The 2-Storeyed Brick-built School appears to have Originally been Freestanding & though Functioning by c.1454 may have been the last part to be Completed. Stone-mullioned windows with distinctive pointed-arched lights & cinquefoil heads light each Floor & the South Front (to the Street) features 2-massive Chimney Stacks, one with Diaper patterning. Heraldic Shields displaying the de la Pole, Chaucer, & Burghersh Arms are Modern replacements of 15thC Originals. Entry is through a heavily altered 2-Storey Porch in the West Gable, to the North of which are remains of a Medieval Spiral Stair; the Upper Floor remains open to its fine Timber Roof, which has double Rows of Purlins with Windbraces & moulded Arch-braced Collar Trusses. Both Floors were Heated, one (perhaps the Upper) probably originally providing Dormitory Accommodation & the other the Main Teaching Space.
Periodic repairs to all the Buildings were noted from the 16thC, including unspecified (but probably largely cosmetic) Alterations to the Cloisters & Walkway, renewed Fenestration & reordering of the Cottage Interiors & Almshouse Masters Accommodation, while a Clock was mentioned c.1567–1723. Nonetheless, the fundamental Layout remained unaltered until a major remodelling in 1970, which reduced the original 13-units to 8. The School (largely Derelict in the early-19thC) was reordered as a National Schoolroom c.1830 & subsequently as a Primary School, necessitating New Stairs & other internal alterations. The former Schoolmasters House (linked to it by a low Service Range by the 1820s) became part of the School in 2010 & New Classrooms were added on the East in 1999.
Aston Rowant & Chilterns Spring Line Villages 