St James' Palace: Hospital for Fourteen Leprous Women

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Sir Walter Besant, in The Fascination of London, published in 1903, continues his survey of St James' Palace:

St. James's Palace is divided into many sets of apartments and suites of rooms, and in this way resembles more the ancient than the modern idea of a palace.

On its site once stood a hospital for fourteen leprous women, which was founded, as Stow quaintly says, "long before the time of any man's memory."

Maitland says the hospital must have been standing before 1100 AD, as it was then visited by the Abbot of Westminster.

Eight brethren were subsequently added to the institution.

Several benevolent bequests of land were made to it from time to time.

In 1450 the custody of the hospital was granted perpetually to Eton College by Henry VI.

In 1531 Henry VIII obtained some of the neighbouring land from the Abbey of Westminster, and in the following year he took the hospital also, giving lands in Suffolk in exchange for it.

There is reason to believe that he pensioned off the ejected inmates.

At any rate, having demolished the House of Mercy, he proceeded to build for himself a palace, which is supposed to have been planned by Holbein, under the direction of Cromwell, Earl of Essex.

Henry VIII was too much occupied in taking possession of Wolsey's palaces to bestow very much of his time on his own new building, though he occasionally resided here before he acquired Whitehall.

Edward VI did not live at St James's Palace regularly, but Queen Mary patronized it, preferring it to Whitehall.

It was granted to Prince Henry during the reign of James I, and Charles I spent the last three days before his execution here.

The Prince known as the "Pretender" was born in one of the palace apartments, and many historians have commented on the fact that this chamber was conveniently near a small back-staircase, up which a new-born infant could have been smuggled.

During the reign of King William the palace was fitted up as a residence for Prince George of Denmark and Princess Anne.

When the Princess ascended the throne, the palace became the regular residence of the Court, which it continued to be until the accession of Queen Victoria, who preferred Buckingham Palace.

Next: St James' Palace: The Chapel Royal