Medieval Hospitals and the English Civil Wars

Some of the hospitals which were founded in medieval times continued into the time of the English Civil Wars. The closure of the monasteries under Henry VIII meant that the number of hospitals had decreased significantly. However, smaller hospitals which had been founded by charity or wealthy townspeople still operated into the seventeenth century. Like in medieval times, these hospitals mainly cared for older people who could no longer look after themselves. The sick were not admitted in case they spread infection. Most of those who were cared for in these hospitals were local citizens from the town where the hospital were located. After the Civil Wars, many old and injured soldiers who were unable to look after themselves were admitted to hospitals like these, including the Hospital of St Cross in Winchester and St Giles’s Hospital Hereford.