Legend has it that the hospital’s foundation originated in a walk which Henry de Blois took in the Itchen meadows. He was stopped by a young girl with a pail of milk on her head and a baby in her arms. She begged the Bishop to help her people who were starving because of the civil war.
The parallel with the Virgin Mary was all too clear to de Blois and he walked on, deep in thought. Ahead of him at Sparkford lay a previous religious house destroyed by the Danes and here De Blois resolved to set up a new community to help the poor.
How much of this is fact is unclear, but we do know that Henry de Blois was young, wealthy and powerful, a monk Knight and politician in one. Appointed Bishop of Winchester in 1129 at the age of 28, he founded the Hospital of St Cross between 1132 and 1136, creating what has become Britain’s
oldest charitable institution.
Welcome to the St Cross village web site. For those of you who live in and around the village we hope that you will find something of interest that catches your eye. This web site has been designed with you in mind and we are looking for your thoughts and ideas on how we can improve it. So why not contact us.
The Hospital of St Cross was created
