For the accommodation of its inmates the chancel of the church was divided by a floor into an upper and a lower storey, and this arrangement still exists, and you can still admire the picturesque ivy-clad tower, the wards with cosy ingle-nooks at either end and cubicles down the middle, the roof decorated with eagles, deemed to be the cognizance of Queen Anne of Bohemia, wife of Richard II, the quaint little cloister, and above all, the excellent management of this grand institution, the “Old Man’s Hospital,” as it is called, which provides for the necessities of 150 old folk, whose wants are cared for by a master and twelve nurses.

[Illustration:  Inscription on the Hospital, King’s Lynn]

Let us travel far and visit another charming almshouse, Abbot’s Hospital, at Guildford, which is an architectural gem and worthy of the closest inspection.  It was founded by Archbishop Abbot in 1619, and is a noble building of mellowed brick with finely carved oak doors, graceful chimneys with their curious “crow-rests,” noble staircases, interesting portraits, and rare books, amongst which is a Vinegar Bible.  The chapel with its Flemish windows showing the story of Jacob and Esau, and oak carvings and almsbox dated 1619, is especially attractive.  Here the founder retired in sadness and sorrow after his unfortunate day’s hunting in Bramshill Park, where he accidentally shot a keeper, an incident which gave occasion to his enemies to blaspheme and deride him.  Here the Duke of Monmouth was confined on his way to London after the battle of Sedgemoor.  The details of the building are worthy of attention, especially the ornamented doors and doorways, the elaborate latches, beautifully designed and furnished with a spring, and elegant casement-fasteners.  Guildford must have had a school of great artists of these window-fasteners.  Near the hospital there is a very interesting house, No. 25 High Street, now a shop, but formerly the town clerk’s residence and the lodgings of the judges of assize; no better series in England of beautifully designed window-fasteners can be found than in this house, erected in 1683; it also has a fine staircase like that at Farnham Castle, and some good plaster ceilings resembling Inigo Jones’s work and probably done by his workmen.

The good town of Abingdon has a very celebrated hospital founded in 1446 by the Guild of the Holy Cross, a fraternity composed of “good men and true,” wealthy merchants and others, which built the bridge, repaired roads, maintained a bridge priest and a rood priest, and held a great annual feast at which the brethren consumed as much as 6 calves, 16 lambs, 80 capons, 80 geese, and 800 eggs.  It was a very munificent and beneficent corporation, and erected these almshouses for thirteen poor men and the same number of poor women.  That hospital founded so long ago still exists.  It is a curious and ancient structure in one storey, and is denoted Christ’s Hospital.  One of our recent writers on Berkshire topography, whose historical accuracy is a little open to criticism, gives a good description of the building:—­