‘On the east of the road which encircles the Park is St. Katharine’s Hospital, built by A.
Poynter, a pupil of Nash, in 1827, when the “act of barbarism” of removing the Hospital from
the East End was committed…….
There is nothing to redeem the crude look of uselessness that the new buildings in Regent’s
Park present.’
Clearly Alicia Amherst, later to become the Hon Mrs Evelyn Cecil, the author of these
disparaging criticisms of St Katharine’s Precinct in 1907, was not in favour of the change of
style from John Nash’s classicism to Ambrose Poynter’s Gothicism.
Catherine Jamison in 1952 described the complex as ‘a kind of aristocratic alms houses’.
St Katharine’s was founded in 1147 by Queen Matilda as a religious community and hospital
for poor and infirm people. It was located just east of the Tower of London. Queen Eleanor
granted a new charter in 1273 reserving the Foundation’s patronage to the Queens of
England. It was the base for three brothers and three sisters, ten bedeswomen and the
Master, a type of warden and thus a secular appointment. (A bedesman or woman obtained
free quarters in an alms house but was required to pray for his or her benefactors). Today, the
Master is a member of the clergy.)
And so, it survived, unlike the other monastic communities around the City of London. For
678 years it continued its work caring for the East End of London despite all its difficulties. It
survived the Reformation and the Dissolution of the Monasteries perhaps because a Queen
was in charge!
By the early 17th century, the precinct had grown to around 23 acres so that the inhabitants,
according to John Stow in his Survey of London in 1598, ‘more in number than in some cities
in England.’ Gradually wharves were established all along the riverside and guilds such as the
Wordmonger’s Company were tenants. By the 18th century the value of the river frontage was
substantial, hence the East India Company had an array of warehouses, and the
Commissioners for Victualling the Navy held a lease of a house, storehouses and a wharf.
It was a popular spot for foreigners – Dutch, French, Danes, an Italian and even five Poles.
Factories were set up and more roads were built as the population grew. Not surprisingly,
courts were established to deal with offences, many of which dealt with the use of incorrect
weights and measures. The Courts Leet, as they were called, were held twice a year and by
the early 19th century all male inhabitants over the age of twelve were obliged to attend. This
led to the creation of the jury, known as the Inquest, which became an administrative body
which was also responsible for the alms houses. Regular poor relief was in the hands of the
overseers of the poor, another set of officials appointed as a result of the Poor Law Act of
1601.
Clearly the Inquest was efficient as the mortality rate in the precinct during the plague of 1665
was about half that of the bordering districts to the east and west.
In 1725 a workhouse was built to help the unemployed. Needless to say, by 1791 it was too
small, and arguments continued until 1824 regarding a new location which would not
impinge on the charity school which had been founded in 1701. By the early 19th century 35
boys and 1 5girls were educated until they were 14 years’ old – the boys trained as apprentices
and the girls to go into service.
Needless to say the chapel was an important part of this village and from the time of Henry
VI the precinct became a royal peculiar, exempt from all episcopal jurisdiction, with its own
Ecclesiastical Court with its own commissary or judge, registrar and proctors, where all
ecclesiastical causes concerning the inhabitants were heard, marriage licences granted and
Wills proved. One of the most important burial arrangements was made by John, Duke of
Exeter in his Will when he died in 1447. A tomb chantry was to be built on the north side of
the High Altar with his first wife and sister. His third wife was also to be buried there. He
provided for four chantry priests to serve the chapel along with the necessary vessels,
vestments and a mass book. His lavish lifestyle meant he was always short of money in spite of
marrying three wealthy widows. His tomb was commissioned after the death of his first wife
in 1432. Payment came from income from the manor of Great Gaddesdon in Hertfordshire
(his first wife’s estate) with each of the priests receiving a salary of 12 marks a year. (image)
Trouble started in 1796-7 when the City of London tried to bring in an Act of Parliament to
improve the Port of London, which would involve the conversion of the precinct into wet
docks. This was defeated but the precinct itself needed much rebuilding and funds were very
low. Another attempt for the dock construction took place in 1823, this time promoted by the
St Katharine’s Dock Company. There was fierce opposition again from the inhabitants and
other dock owners but in spite of this the Bill was passed in 1825 spelling disaster for
the 3000 or so inhabitants. The Foundation’s chapel, Master’s House and other buildings
were demolished.
Although the dock company paid for the move to the Regent’s Park, there was no
compensation for the majority of those living around the old church and thus the help it had
been able to provide in the East End ceased. The Foundation became a residential alms
house for a very limited number of people. Its new role was to provide ‘grace and favour’
residences for retired clergy and widows of clergy. The salaries of the Master, the Brethren
and the Sisters, however, were raised and they were housed in the buildings to the north and
south of the chapel, now stylish and expensive residences. A school was also built to educate
children aged between 7-14 years old from impoverished families. This continued until 1915.
The Master’s house, St Katharine’s Lodge, was a substantial building and was home to the
Master, General Sir Herbert Taylor Bt in 1827. (see image). When during WW1 the patron,
Queen Alexandra, the Queen Mother, who was Danish, granted the use of the chapel to her
fellow Danes, the Lodge became available for leasing and in June 1917 the American tenant,
William Salomon, from New York offered it to the American Red Cross for use as a hospital
for American Officers). Sadly, nothing remains of the Lodge today as it was bombed in
WW2.
The Chapel was much less austere in those days with the removal of much of the woodwork
from the original chapel such as the pulpit, the choir stalls with their splendid misericords and
other 17th century carved wood panels. They can now be seen in the chapel in Limehouse, the
new home for the Foundation since 1948. But the spectacular tomb of John the Duke of
Exeter (see above) which was also transferred to the Park’s Chapel was returned not to
Limehouse but to the Church of St Peter ad Vincula within the Tower. As he was created
Constable of the Tower in 1420 because of his service as military commander during the 100
Years’s war, it is appropriate that his tomb should be there. (see image with inscription)
Their remains having been carefully removed from the original place of interment, are
deposited in this Chapel, as are those of other persons whose monuments and gravestones
were transferred to it from the Collegiate Church of St Katharine aforesaid.”
Many changes were sought for the rest of the precinct and the succession of lay masters came
to an end. Reforms were continually demanded from the Charity Commissioner in spite of
the fact that St Katharine was not a charity within its jurisdiction. During WW1
St Katharine’s funds were put to more appropriate use. The chapel remained but some of the
funds were transferred to the Royal College of St Katharine which had been set up by Queen
Alexandra to undertake welfare work in Poplar and an infant welfare centre was established
in Bromley. As it was badly damaged in WW2 the Foundation moved once again to the site
of St James Ratcliff in Limehouse where it is today.
The Chapel was built in 1952 on the site of the blitzed St James and has the lovely series of
carvings, misericords and Sir Julius Caesar’s pulpit dating from around 1600 which were
removed from Regent’s Park. The Master’s house was the home of Matthew Whiting, a
sugar refiner during the 18th century. To top it all, the Yurt Café just outside the main grounds
provides much needed delicious groceries to buy and dishes to eat in the gardens.
