Small tower in hospital of St. James by Westminster

In the civil parish of City Of Westminster. In the historic county of Middlesex (Modern Authority of London Borough of Westminster, 1974 county of Greater London).

The patent rolls record, dated 20 Feb 1379 a "pardon to Thomas Orgrave, clerk, master of the hospital of St. James by Westminster, for crenellating without licence a small tower therein for the security of its ornaments."
Hospital founded before 1189 for 14 leprous women, and 8 brethren, first documented during C12. The brothers and sisters were in separate houses, and followed the Austin rule. It was demolished in 1531 for the construction of St James's Palace (qv). Excavations in 1925 and 1990 have located burials and parts of the hospital including a possible chapel.
"The hospital of St. James for leprous women, situated west of Charing, in the parish of St. Margaret's, Westminster ... The Black Death carried off the warden and all the brothers and sisters except William de Weston, who, in May, 1349, was made master, but in 1351 was deposed for wasting the goods of the hospital. It is said that in 1353 the house was without inmates, and the place appears to have been in much the same condition in 1384, when Thomas Orgrave, the master, with the consent of the treasurer, let to Elizabeth Lady le Despenser for her life, at a rent of 10 marks, practically the whole hospital, viz., the houses within the gate in front of the door of the principal hall, the hall with the upper and lower chambers at each end, the stone tower, the chamber over the entrance, the kitchen and bakery, the houses assigned to the master, and all the gardens and ground within the precincts. It is possible that the hospital was in need of funds just then, since a papal relaxation granted in 1393 indicates that the chapel was being rebuilt, but money would hardly have been raised by a lease of the building of the hospital, if the inmates for whom the rooms were intended had been there to use them." VCH

This site has been described as a;
Pele Tower.

The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Possible.

Nothing visible remains.

listed building

Images of England

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TQ29358004

PastScape Defra ELS number; 611255

Books

Baker, T., 1970, Medieval London p67-8
RCHME, 1925, Inventory of Historic Monuments in London Vol2: West London (HMSO) p130
Page, Wm (ed), 1909, VCH London Vol1 p542-6 [history of the hospital] http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=35378

Journal Articles

Barrett, M., 1991, The London Archaeologist Vol6.11 p508
Coulson, C., 1982, 'Hierarchism in Conventual Crenellation: An Essay in the Sociology and Metaphysics of Medieval Fortification' Medieval Archaeology Vol26 p69-100 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
Honeybourne, M.B., 1967, Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society Vol21 p5, 54
Blakiston, N., 1959, Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society Vol2o p51-5

Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)

Calendar of Patent Rolls (1377-81) p325

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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Small tower in hospital of St. James by Westminster

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TQ29358004

Sources of information, references and further reading