Sir Roger Manwood Hospital, Canterbury
Grade II*; St Stephen’s conservation area
Four additional almshouse units
Sir Roger Manwood Hospital on St Stephen’s Green at Hackington is now absorbed within wider Canterbury. It was built under the terms of the will of Sir Roger Manwood (1524/5-1592), judge and landowner, buried in the nearby Church of St Stephen, Hackington, under a fine monument.
The Hospital, built in the 1570s near the church, provided six almshouses and a larger house reserved for the parish priest. The latter has long been a public house, still owned by the Hospital and leased to local brewers.
In 1988 the trust bought an adjacent single-story building, partly from the late 16th century. Originally built later as a lodge to Sir Roger Manwood’s house, it has been converted into two additional almshouse units.
It was decided to build four extra almshouse units on land at the back of the historic almshouses, the need being for single-storey almshouses for residents who might lack some mobility. They are therefore distinguished from the two-storey layout of the historic hospital where staircases make some units less accessible.
A single-storey building, designed by Andrew Clague RIBA AABC in an unassuming historicist brick style, suits the setting of the Grade II* main building. The site was somewhat complicated by the survival of the historic boundary wall of the almshouses at the north end of the site, against which the four units back.
Therefore the new building faces south towards the north face of the main almshouse block, creating a relatively enclosed garden area for the combined buildings.
To the east, behind another surviving wall, is an enlarged car park for the residents. Although there is some harm to the setting of the listed buildings, that is offset by the reduced need to alter them to provide more accessible accommodation, by their seclusion within the conservation area, and by complementing the historic character of the setting.
