St Anne’s Hospital, also known as Lady Anne’s almhouses, is a famous part of Appleby. (Though sadly, I didn’t take a photo last time I visited the town).

But I now have a puzzle to share…

Look online for the history of St Anne’s Hospital (I’ll stick with that name, rather than Lady Anne’s Almshouses) and you’ll find they were built in 1651-1653 by Lady Anne Clifford. 

There is even a plaque there (put up in 1961), saying they were founded in May 1651.

A document in Carlisle Archives suggests otherwise.

Lady Anne Clifford

Lady Anne Clifford is described by English Heritage as: 

‘a legend in her own lifetime’

And quite right, too! 

Despite the restrictions suffered by even women of means in the 17th Century, she held her own and then some. 

She took on male relatives for the right to inherit the vast Clifford family estates. And eventually won.

She lived through the Civil War, on the losing side, without getting badly on the wrong side of Oliver Cromwell.

Some six months after Charles I was executed, Lady Ann Clifford left London for ‘the north’ and finally, a year later and aged 60, found herself free (of her second husband) and independent. In what was left of Appleby Castle, which was had been ‘one of the ruins that Cromwell knocked about a bit’.

The English Heritage site gives a good summary of how she spent the last 27 years of her life rebuilding the Clifford estates.

Appleby Castle

And at the time of writing, you can take a peek at Appleby Castle (if you’ve never visited), as it is for sale at auction, with an asking price of £5.5million.

Which, from my previous visits, sounds like a bargain!

(Actually, a quick search finds it was put up for sale in February 2024 for £9.5m, so £5.5m would be ‘cheap at (almost) half the price’.

Lady Anne Clifford’s good works

But it wasn’t just her own residences that Lady Anne Clifford is remembered for doing up. Althought of course that was of great benefit to the local communities, as it created a lot of jobs for labourers and craftsmen and suppliers of fabric and provisions etc.

According to Martin Holmes’ book ‘Proud Northern Lady,’

‘Every Monday morning, when she was in residence, 20 poor householders of the neighbourhood received a small payment of money, and there was always something for the hungry who came to her gate.’

Back to the puzzle of St Anne’s Hospital

Which brings me to my discovery in Carlisle Archives. A document describing how in 1662, after the restoration of the monarchy, Lady Anne Clifford sought to help impoverished women in Appleby.

The document looks to be a much later copy of the original. But Charles II didn’t become king until 1660; and his father was dead by 1651 (the supposed date the almshouses were founded).

So the date and king’s name on the document have to be correct.

St Anne’s Hospital – the 1662 request

Here are the key bits from that document. The first paragraph is 155 words long, even after I clipped a few words!

August 1662. Charles II.

By letters patent of this date, after reciting that Ann (sic) Countess and Dowager of Dorset, Pembroke and Montgomery, only daughter and heir of George late Earl of Cumberland, had given the King to understand that in the northern parts and particularly in the Borough of Appleby… there were many infirm women who were supported and who lived without any settled residence or means of subsistence and that the said Countess being desirous to provide in some measure for the support of such poor women had besought the King to permit her to found an Hospital in the town… for the better relief and support of 13 poor women abiding therein and in the neighbourhood.

And then it confirms King Charles II’s response:

‘The said King did give, grant and ordain that there should and might be an Hospital for poor women in Appleby, to be called The Hospital of Saint Ann of Appleby, consisting of 13 poor women, vizt one mother and 12 sisters of the Foundation of the said Countess for the support and relief of 13 poor women for ever.’

‘…The said King Did give and grant to the said Countess and her Heirs Lords of the Castle and Manor of Appleby full power and authority to name and appoint the mother and 12 sisters…’

The key bit

And on the document goes, about the 13 women and what happens if there’s a vacancy…

But the key bit, surely, is that in 1662, Lady Anne Clifford:

‘besought the King to permit her to found an Hospital in the town‘

Which has to mean there wasn’t one there before that date. And certainly not in 1651 – when Lady Ann had more than enough on her plate, trying to sort out the battered castles and other mess she’d literally inherited.

Remember, she’d only been free of the claims of her second husband since January 1650. And for much of 1651, the Civil War was still going strong.

So, er..? Was Lady Anne Clifford, in 1662, kind of applying for restrospective planning permission?

Or were the almshouses actually not begun until 11 years after their supposed foundation date?

Anyone who can solve the puzzle is welcome to submit a comment below.