Lovely Lord Leycester Hospital.

We listened to 'The Archers' before stepping out into the lovely morning for a further exploration of Warwick. We came across this original cell door in the wall of the court buildings.

This is one of the prison cell doors for the jail that replaced the one burnt down in the 1694 Great Fire. It was in use until 1861.

The Brutalist Council Buildings are softened somewhat by these sculptures of herons in the pool.

The old Market Hall now serves as a museum that has a good collection of fossils and explains the geological significance of the area. There are some good exhibits of finds from the area and also a small section on the natural history of the town too. I good hour or more was taken up there.

 We then went to the Lord Leycester Hospital for lunch. and following that we paid to go round the building. I didn't argue when they gave us concession rates. That was the first time that has happened. It must have been a rough night with Helen's snoring!

These are house that make up part of the Lord Leycester Horpital. It was set up by Robert, Earl of Leicester in 1571 as almshouses for 12 old soldiers and a Master. Now a days it has been reduced to 8 men and a Master.

This photo taken from outside the Chantry Chapel above the Westgate shows the High Street. In the foreground are timber framed buildings. On the right hand side the first red brick building is the Friends meeting House. It is here where the Great Fire of 1694 started. Looking down the street it can be seen that all the buildings are brick and stone built as the old buildings were lost and replaced after the clearance.

The Chantry Chapel of St. James was built in 1126. It was rebuilt in 14th Century and was granted to the Guild of St. George that were self help associations. They were joined by the guild of the Blessed Virgin. They had accommodation, meeting rooms and dining halls.

 This is the Banqueting Hall was built in 1450 and has the original roof and walls. Henry VIII dissolved the Guilds in 1546, and the Earl of Warwick bought the buildings in 1571. When King James I was entertained here it took Warwick ten years to pay off the debt the ran up looking after the King and his court for a week.

The south and east wings of the courtyard are the oldest part of the complex. The lower floor to the left was the Brethern's dining room.

The north wing has different heraldic devices. The porcupine is the emblem for the Sidney Family who inherited after on the death of  Robert Dudley in 1588 and the Sidney's are still patrons to the hospital. The broad arrow head above is also one of the families devices. Sidney was made the Master of the Kings Ordnance. It the time there was much corruption in the department and items were being sold off illegally. To prevent this Sidney stamped on the broad arrow head on items that belonged to the Ordnance so that it could quickly be seen if they were stolen. It still used today as the emblem of the War Department. I also love the bears above using their ragged staffs for exercises!

This is the Guild Hall where the business of the Guilds was conducted. It is also the original table too. This room and rooms off are dedicated to the Museum of the Queen's Own Hussars. It was small but wonderfully laid out with good artifacts. The story through the ages was told through the exploits of individuals and battles. We spent around two hours in this small area and found it very interesting. The entrance fee is well worth looking round this singular building.

This is a great view of St. Mary's Church through the jettied buildings of Church Street. On the right is Thomas Onken's House Tea Room. There is also a Doll's museum here. Onken was the founder of the yogurt company. (No not really true at all). No he was a wealth mercer or dealer in cloth and was very generous to the town. He also became Mayor and Mater of the Guilds at Lord Leycester's Hospital

By the time we were finished at the Hospital we were too late to climb the towr of St. Mary's Church so will have to leave that for another visit. To complete the day we stopped at the Wild Boar pub on the way back and sampled the Slaughterhouse beer. The pub is the brewery tap for the brewery. Very nice it was too.