The Bede Houses have been demolished this year, leaving only the small Bede House Chapel standing. The latter is in poor condition, and is possibly also soon to be demolished. (1)

Bede House Chapel still extant. (2)

The Bedehouse was founded by William Philipott, a merchant of Newark, and endowed by his will 1556. There is also a detached chapel. (3)

The chapel is the only remaining part of the Bede House given by William Phillipot in AD 1556 to the people of Newark. Hanging inside the building on the north wall at the east end of the chapel is an inscribed stone saved from the Bede House when it was demolished. This read 'These Almshouses were founded and endowed by William Phillipot Esquire Merchant and Alderman of this Town AD MDLVI. And were afterwards rebuilt and endowed by an increased value of the Estates AD MDCCLVI. And were enlarged and further endowed by an increased value of Phillipot's Estates AD MDCCLXXXIII'. The sitewhere the almshouses once stood is now occupied by retirement ungalows and has been since the demolition of the Bede House and courtyard in 1961. It is assumed that the chapel seen today is the original William Phillipot comissioned and funded, a task completed by the time of his will in March AD 1556 (Brown 1904, 357. there is knon to have been some restoration to the building in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. (4)

It is known that in AD 1556 William Phillipot had the Bee House and associated chapel built. There had been speculation as to whether the chapel now standing was the original or a later rebuild. Tree-ring analysis has dated seven samples from this building. It is known that at least one of them was from a tree felled in AD 1554, with a further four also probably felled at this time. It has not discounted the possibility that the other two were also felled in AD 1554. On the assumption that the construction of the chapel would have taken place at the time of, or soon after, the felling of the trees, it would appear that this building is not a later construction but the original chapel. Changes and restoration may have been confined to the insertion of a 'barrel' ceiling under the roof. This is made of pine, the dating of which could not be undertaken by the laboratory and so it was not sampled. (4)

See M18185 for Almshouses

Data Held (Document). SNT2647.

Elevations, Map tank

Data Held (Document). SNT2647.

(3), Parish File

Listed buildings slides, 16 slides (Photograph). SNT2648.

H F Worthington, 3/10/74, Bede House Chapel (Plan). SNT4389.

<1> Harper FR, 1962, Pers Comm (Personal comment). SNT748.

<2> Unknown, --/04/1973, LS Reviser (Personal comment). SNT891.

<3> Prescott, E, 1992, The English Medieval Hospital c.1050-1640, p 149 (Published document). SNT1803.