St Wulfstan's Hospital

St Wulfstan's Hospital, later known as the Commandery, was probably founded around the year 1200 (long after Wulfstan's death) by one of the bishops of Worcester. Its chapel was much older: it was dedicated to the obscure Breton Saint Gudwal, and had probably been founded in the 950s. The earliest record of the hospital is an account of 1221, when a man blinded and castrated during a judicial duel was miraculously cured. Up until c.1250 the hospital was staffed by a community of both men and women, and was concerned with accommodating the infirm, and possibly ordinary travellers. Later, the community was predominantly male. Around 1300 the hospital was impoverished, though in later years it grew wealthy by looking after prosperous townspeople in their old age in return for a share of their property.

The site is now part of the Commandery Museum where the Worcester 1250 model was originally on display (for more information about the museum, click here.