St Nicholas Hospital

The Hospital of St Nicholas in Salisbury is one of the ancient almshouses of England.  Built in 1215  the site has over 800 years of daily worship and service. The hospital lies on the borders of Salisbury and Harnham, just south of Salisbury Cathedral close, by the Old Harnham or Ayleswade Bridge over the Avon and may have been  founded by Bishop Richard Poore.

It is widely acknowledged to the the inspiration for Hiram’s Hospital in The Warden by Anthony Trollope.  In his autobiography he writes in July 1852, “It was then more than twelve months since I had stood for an hour on the little bridge in Salisbury, and had made out to my satisfaction the spot on which Hiram’s Hospital should stand”.