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Norfolk Heritage Explorer

Record Details

NHER Number:	4333
Type of record:	Monument
Name:	Site of St Mary's Hospital

Summary

St Mary's Hospital was founded on this site in 1278. After the dissolution of the monasteries some parts of the building were converted into the Grammar School. The building continued to be adapted and used throughout the medieval and post medieval period as a prison, children's hospital and workhouse. In 1750 part of it was recorded as being used as an ordnance office. The complicated archaeology of the site was revealed during an excavation in 1997 that recorded medieval pits and layers, post medieval walls and an unknown 20th century foundation. A school has been on the site since at least the 19th century. The present building mostly dates to 1931.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:	TG 5247 0781
Map Sheet:	TG50NW
Parish:	GREAT YARMOUTH, GREAT YARMOUTH, NORFOLK

Full description

Site of St Mary's Hospital (Ordnance Survey antiquity).
Founded 1278 for a master, two priests, eight bretheren and eight sisters. After Dissolution lodgings and chapel became a Grammar School.
See (S1) and (S2).

(S3) recorded in use as a bridewell and children's hospital, with windvane dated 1664. It retained a 'large chapel like window'. (S4) marks as workhouse. (S5) quotes (S1) as mentioning separately another hospital (unlocated) founded in the town and dated 1386. But is this really different from above?
E. Rose (NAU), 23 March 1981.

(S6) noted that this was in use as an Ordnance Office 6.71m x 4.5m (22 x 15 feet) now out of use and to be used as a workhouse. Thus (S3) must be post 1750, as noted in (S7).
E. Rose (NAU), 23 March 1984.

The school was rebuilt in the 1840s and again on a different alignment in 1931.
Information from GYM.
E. Rose, 21 November 1996.

The east to west block may be of 1931 but the Market Place facade is of around 1900, in Bottle and Olleys style.
E. Rose (NLA), 17 December 1998.

May 1997. Trial Trenching.
The three trenches excavated revealed deep made ground deposits, much of which was potentially medieval. Substantial walls revealed in two of the trenches are probably remnants of 18th-century buildings that can be seen on Faden's map of 1797.
See report (S8) for further details. This work is also noted in (S9).
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2018.272).
E. Rose (NLA), 24 November 1997. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 17 February 2014 and 15 April 2019.

Monument Types

HOSPITAL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
PIT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
CELLAR (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
HOSPITAL (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
PIT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
PRISON (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
SCHOOL (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
WALL (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
WORKHOUSE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
WORKHOUSE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Associated Finds

ANIMAL REMAINS (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
BRICK (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
FLOOR TILE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
MOLLUSCA REMAINS (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
POT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
SAMPLE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
FLOOR TILE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
POT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

---	Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A.. 1995. TG5207/ABM,ABS,ABT.
---	Illustration: Various. Various. Architectural plans.
---	Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
---	Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Medieval. Yarmouth (Great).
---	Secondary File: Secondary File.
<S1>	Publication: Knowles, D. and Hadcock, R. N. 1971. Medieval Religious Houses of England and Wales. pp 338, 407.
<S2>	Publication: Messent, C. J. W. 1931. The Ruined Churches of Norfolk.
<S3>	Documentary Source: Martin, T. c. 1700-1799. Collections of Church Notes. Norfolk Records Office. 1772.
<S4>	Publication: Faden, W. and Barringer, J. C. 1989. Faden's Map of Norfolk in 1797.
<S5>	Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TG 50 NW 14 [2]; TG 50 NW 59.
<S6>	Unpublished Document: 1750. Survey of Great Yarmouth town defences.
<S7>	Article in Serial: 1984. [unknown]. Yarmouth Archaeology. Vol II, pt 1, p 9.
<S8>	Unpublished Contractor Report: Shelley, A. 1997. An Evaluation at St Nicholas Middle School, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. Norfolk Archaeological Unit. 273.
<S9>	Article in Serial: Gurney, D. and Penn, K. (eds). 1998. Excavations and Surveys in Norfolk 1997. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLIII Pt I pp 193-210. p 198.