Site
2.1 Site
2.2 Architecture
Eastbridge Hospital Greyfriars Chapel Greyfriars Gardens
These gardens and a small buildings are ancient lands of Canterbury, Eastbridge Hospital was set up in the 12th Century as a place of hospitality for visiting pilgrims to Thomas Becket’s shrine in Canterbury Cathedral and the Greyfriar’s garden and chapel sits on lands given to the Franciscian monks in the 13th century. The space is layered with historic use and meaning, with several special conditions in relation to its urban context and adjacency to the River Stour. The buidings on the site are a typical Kentish vernacular using traditional materials of brick, flint, timber, terracotta tiles, plaster, leaded glass and paint. The spaces have been used for many different purposes over the years and the non-planned nature of the buildings expresses this. The sites are of historical importance and have undertaken extensive resoration and preservation from various different funding sources. Eastbridge hospital comprises a chapel and undercroft on the lower floor, a refectory and large chapl on the first floor. There is also living accomodation on site. The Greyfriars Chapel is a two storey building aver the River Stour. Downstairs are two small exhibition spaces, upstairs, a chapel and a preparation/storage room.
Location
T homas Becket, BBC In Our Time
Giotto, T he Preaching of St Francis to the Birds, c.1298
UCA Canterbury School of Architecture //
2.3 Site High Street
Eastbridge Hospital
chapel
UCA Canterbury School of Architecture //
2.4 T he Franciscian Secret Garden
The Friary at Canterbury was the earliest Franciscian foundation in the country, built within the lifetime of St Francis. The Greyfriars was dissolved in 1538. The Franciscians first settled on the east back of the Stour on the islet opposite the Poor Priests Hospital and south east of the current site in 1224, moving to Binnewith Island in 1267. The lands expanded to 18 acres, of which the current gardens are part, and uses included farming and water meadows. The friary buildings are no longer standing, but there used to exist a large church, accommodation, a cloister and ancillary buildings. Following the demolitin of the ecclesiatical buildings, a large house was errected on the site and an exisiting wall from that structure still remains. For a time, the grounds were a plant nursery. In 2003, the Franciscian brothers retuned to the site and are now accomodated in a house on the high street. Recently we have heard this will no longer be the case as the house will be privately let.
Greyfriers chapel
2.5 Eastbridge Hospital
Outline of ecclesiastical buildings
The Eastbridge Hospital complex has been used for different purposes over the period of its history since its building in c.1180. It intially housed pilgrims visiting the shrine of Thomas Becket in the cathedral. Individuals, providing they were not sick (particularly with leprosy), could stay at the hospital, which was a little like a hostel, overnight for four days to complete their pilgrimage. The building fell into disrepair in the 14th Century. Following this period, the building was then used as an almshouse, the foundation being bequethed with assests which provided supporting finance for several live in individuals and several individuals in the wider community. The lands which supported this have since been sold off. There was a master and several individuals who cared for and suprted those living off the hospital’s funds. The foundation was also used as a school for boys in later years. There appear to be extensive records recording who was involved with the hospital foundation in the centuries it has been runnning.
Eastbridge Hospital
Eastbridge Hospital and bridge
UCA Canterbury School of Architecture //
2.6 3-d scans
UCA Canterbury School of Architecture //
2.7 Reading + sources
Powell, M. & Pressburger, E., 1999. A Canterbury tale, ITV DVD. Hays, K.M., 1998. Oppositions reader : selected readings from A journal for ideas and criticism in architecture 1973-1984, Princeton Architectural Press. pp. 621-254 Newman, J., 2013. Kent : North-east and east Revised, updated and expanded edition., New Haven: Yale University Press. https://www.eastbridgehospital.org.uk/ https://www.arteconservation.com/single-post/2016/01/30/13th-century-mural-at-Eastbridge-Hospital-Canterbury Listed buildings https://historicengland.org.uk/ British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/ English Heritage http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/ The National Trust https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ Canterbury Archeology http://www.canterbury-archaeology.org.uk/eastbridge/4590809483 National Archives: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/d6ec3535-7fbe4aa0-a5f4-0a6590d16d88 Historic Canterbury http://www.machadoink.com/East%20Bridge%20Hospital.htm Local Authourity planning sites (search for an address) Archeology reports...Timeteam! Local archives Google earth and Bing Architects who have worked on the site JSTOR Library databases including the CIS database and Detail (refurbishment and existing fabric, adaptive reuse) Google... take a trawl though the internet... you never know where you might end up. Google books Land registry https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/land-registry Conservation area: Local Planning Authourity Societies (20th Century Society/ Victorian Society/ Archeological societies) Owners/ previous owners/occupants...tread carefully! Other design professionals, eg Engineers Survey information: initial and later, on-site. There is no better confirmation than checking on site! Gazeteers of existing finishes. Heritage assesment... what is valuable, what is not Old maps... can show phasing, land use, roads lots of detail.
Wise Words Festival, 2017
Canterbur y and its gardens
Wise Words Festival
UCA Canterbury School of Architecture //