A NEW blue plaque was unveiled at a supportive housing building last week, commemorating 800 years of service and worship on the site.
The ceremony was at St Nicholas Hospital, St Nicholas Road, which is said to be the inspiration for Anthony Trollope's novel 'The Warden'.
The plaque was installed by Salisbury Civic Society and unveiled on Wednesday, October 25, and was also installed to celebrate the buildings' unique heritage, and connection to the novel by Mr Trollope.
St Nicholas Hospital was built in 1215 and offered hospitality to pilgrims.
The unveiling ceremony was performed by David Bartlett, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of St. Nicholas, and Dame Rosemary Spencer, Patron of the Salisbury Civic Society, supported by Councillor Atiqul Hoque, Mayor of Salisbury and the Master of St Nicholas Hospital, The Venerable Caroline Baston.
Following the unveiling, guests were invited to a talk in the medieval chapel given by David Bartlett, Caroline Baston and the Trollope Society's Eric Williams, followed by refreshments.
David spoke about the founding of St. Nicholas Hospital by Bishop Bingham as a hospital in the 13th century, though its origin may have been much earlier.
Bishop Bingham made sure that the hospital appointed a Warden in 1244, and declared that the purpose of the hospital was to receive, help and maintain the poor of Christ, the weak and the sick. The complex was restored by William Butterfield and others between 1850 and 1884 and continues as an almshouse to the present day.
Eric described how the medieval almshouse complex is widely acknowledged to be the inspiration for Hiram’s Hospital in The Warden by Mr Trollope.
In his autobiography from July 1852, Mr Trollope wrote: “It was then more than twelve months since I had stood for an hour on the little bridge in Salisbury, and had made out to my satisfaction the spot on which Hiram’s Hospital should stand”.
This is the third blue plaque to be unveiled by the Salisbury Civic Society this year.
In April, the Civic Society and Salisbury Soroptimists installed a plaque dedicated to Frances Hale outside the Cosy Club on New Street, and in September Dr Marina Seabright was honoured with a plaque at the Old Salisbury Infirmary on Fisherton Street.
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