{"id":2930,"date":"2025-10-05T12:45:50","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T11:45:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/?p=2930"},"modified":"2025-10-05T12:49:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T11:49:54","slug":"st-annes-hospital-appleby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/05\/st-annes-hospital-appleby\/","title":{"rendered":"St Anne’s Hospital \u2013 a puzzle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

St Anne\u2019s Hospital, also known as Lady Anne\u2019s almhouses, is a famous part of Appleby. (Though sadly, I didn\u2019t take a photo last time I visited the town).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I now have a puzzle to share\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look online for the history of St Anne\u2019s Hospital (I\u2019ll stick with that name, rather than Lady Anne\u2019s Almshouses) and you\u2019ll find they were built in 1651-1653 by Lady Anne Clifford. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is even a plaque there (put up in 1961), saying they were founded in May 1651.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A document in Carlisle Archives suggests otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lady Anne Clifford<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lady Anne Clifford is described by English Heritage as: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u2018a legend in her own lifetime<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

And quite right, too! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the restrictions suffered by even women of means in the 17th Century, she held her own and then some. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She took on male relatives for the right to inherit the vast Clifford family estates. And eventually won.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She lived through the Civil War, on the losing side, without getting badly on the wrong side of Oliver Cromwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some six months after Charles I was executed, Lady Ann Clifford left London for \u2018the north\u2019 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 \u2018one of the ruins that Cromwell knocked about a bit\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The English Heritage site<\/a> gives a good summary of how she spent the last 27 years of her life rebuilding the Clifford estates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Appleby Castle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

And at the time of writing, you can take a peek at Appleby Castle (if you\u2019ve never visited), as it is for sale at auction, with an asking price of \u00a35.5million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which, from my previous visits, sounds like a bargain!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Actually, a quick search finds it was put up for sale in February 2024<\/a> for \u00a39.5m, so \u00a35.5m would be \u2018cheap at (almost) half the price\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lady Anne Clifford\u2019s good works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

But it wasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Martin Holmes\u2019 book \u2018Proud Northern Lady<\/a>,\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u2018Every 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.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Back to the puzzle of St Anne\u2019s Hospital<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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

The document looks to be a much later copy of the original. But Charles II didn\u2019t become king until 1660; and his father was dead by 1651 (the supposed date the almshouses were founded).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the date and king’s name on the document have to be correct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

St Anne’s Hospital \u2013 the 1662 request<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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

\n

August 1662. Charles II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2026 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\u2026 for the better relief and support of 13 poor women abiding therein and in the neighbourhood.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

And then it confirms King Charles II\u2019s response:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u2018The 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.<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018\u2026The 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\u2026\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The key bit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

And on the document goes, about the 13 women and what happens if there\u2019s a vacancy\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the key bit, surely, is that in 1662, Lady Anne Clifford:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

‘besought the King to permit her to found an Hospital in the town<\/em>‘<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Which has to mean there wasn\u2019t one there before that date. And certainly not in 1651 \u2013 when Lady Ann had more than enough on her plate, trying to sort out the battered castles and other mess she\u2019d literally inherited. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember, she\u2019d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, er..? Was Lady Anne Clifford, in 1662, kind of applying for restrospective planning permission?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or were the almshouses actually not begun until 11 years after their supposed foundation date?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone who can solve the puzzle is welcome to submit a comment below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St Anne\u2019s Hospital, also known as Lady Anne\u2019s almhouses, is a famous part of Appleby. (Though sadly, I didn\u2019t take a photo last time I visited the town). But I now have a puzzle to share\u2026 Look online for the history of St Anne\u2019s Hospital (I\u2019ll stick with that name, rather than Lady Anne\u2019s Almshouses) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,231],"tags":[465,47,468,467,466],"class_list":["post-2930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cumbria-history","category-stuart-life","tag-almshouses","tag-appleby","tag-charles-ii","tag-civil-war","tag-lady-anne-clifford"],"yoast_head":"\nSt Anne's Hospital \u2013 a puzzle - Cumbrian Characters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lady Ann's Hospital (almshouses) in Appleby are said to have been built in 1651-53. 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