Christ's Hospital

, founder of Christ's Hospital]] Christ's Hospital was the result of the foundation by Henry VIII and confirmed by Edward VI, assisted by Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London, and Sir Richard Dobbs, Lord Mayor of London. Its genesis was the earlier dissolution of the monasteries and the resultant overflow onto the streets of the poor and destitute. Encouraged by a sermon from Ridley, exhorting mercy to the poor, the king wrote to the Lord Mayor encouraging him to action. This he did via a committee of 30 merchants. Henry VIII had already granted the use of Greyfriars to the city for the relief of the poor and to house the homeless children which the magistrates had taken notice of. In 1553 (26…

The ensemble of buildings in the Christ's Hospital Horsham campus were Grade II* listed in 1959. The complex includes a tall water tower, a dining hall facing a quadrangle flanked by collannaded wings, and a school chapel. The red brick colonnades are joined to the dining hall with stone archways which were designed by John Shaw in 1836 for the old school in Newgate Street in the City of London. These archways were dismantled and re-erected here at the Horsham site in 1902. The school chapel was designed by Aston Webb and E Bell. The Bath stone reredos at the east end depicts Christ in Glory surrounded by sculptures of the Twelve Apostles, and in the lower panel is Christ receiving the…