Ford's Hospital, Coventry, traditionally known as Grey Friars Hospital, is a grade I listed[1] 16th century half-timbered almshouse in Greyfriars Lane, Coventry.[2] It was founded by the merchant William Ford (or perhaps 'Fourd') in 1509 to provide accommodation for six elderly people: five men and one woman.[3] Despite the earlier name of "Grey Friars", it bears no relationship to the Franciscan Order but was so named because of its location on Greyfriars Lane.[4]
The building houses a narrow courtyard measuring Шаблон:Convert[5] and has been considered by historians and writers to be a particularly fine example of English domestic architecture of the period.[6]
In 1517, following Ford's death, the endowment was extended to allow six places for couples to live together. In 1529, it was extended further to allow five more couples to stay.[3] According to W. Hickling, a Coventry historian writing in 1846, by then it was serving forty women, each of whom received an allowance of three shillings and six pence per week.[6]
During the Coventry Blitz, the building was hit by German bombing, like many other parts of the city. A bomb dropped on 14 October 1940 killed the warden, a nurse and six residents.[3] It was restored with original timbers between 1951 and 1953.[1] The building is located on the site of a chapel within Greyfriars Friary. In 1940, John Bailey Shelton, a Coventry archaeologist discovered encaustic tiles typical of those found in a chapel. The building was built with a considerable amount of teak.[7]
In 2006, the building was used as a location for the episode of Doctor Who called The Shakespeare Code.[8][9] In attempting to reconstruct the Globe Theatre, Shakespeare scholars have used Ford's Hospital to understand Elizabethan doorways.[10]
