Christmas Special: Maison Dieu, Dover
This one is technically a solo adventure, as it was Ren and her Grandmother who went here for the Dover Pantomime. However, it is Christmas, and what better to celebrate Christmas than with a festive panto at a historic Dover site?
This was our first (mine and Grandma's) panto in Dover. We've been going to the annual Christmas panto at The Tower Theatre for 20+ years, but ever since the hilarious manager John left, it just hasnt been the same. It was by pure accident that I came across an advert for the Dover panto and found that almost all of the cast were familiar faces from TTT, including John. So while we still went to TTT this year, we also took a trip to Dover to see our old favourites and my god it was a hoot.
The Maison Dieu has been Dover's town hall since the late 1830s, but before that it was a place for pilgrims to stay, specifically those who were lacking in funds. Funded over 800 years ago, the site has seen a great many uses, but when Hubert de Burgh set it all up in 1200 it was a Pilgrim Hospital.
Those who were on a pilgrimage to the shrine of St Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral, but couldn't pay their way, found themselves staying the night here with bed and board. It was the responsibility of the resident Master and his small group of lay brothers and sisters to care for the pilgrims and they adopted rules and beliefs from the Augustinian order, although they weren't followed quite as strictly. These pilgrims were mostly from abroad which would explain their lack of funds and poor health conditions as medieval times wasn't the best time to be walking yourself across continents, and so the lay brothers and sisters would pile them into the infirmary hall on a straw mattress and hand them a bowl of Pottage (veggie stew). They'd also get a hunk of bread (likely stale) and some weak beer as it was of better quality than the water and was full of calories like we will learn when we cover The Witching Post Inn during the new year.
So Hubert de Burgh who founded the hospital was the equivalent to todays Prime Minister as he held the position of Justiciar, but he was also the Earl of Kent, Constable of Dover Castle and the Warden of the Cinque Ports. Overall a pretty important guy and basically the law of Dover. So it was no surprise that he felt it was his duty to give back to his community by helping out those travelling through as my guess is if there was nowhere to go and no support they'd just sleep on the streets until they collapsed from exhaustion or died due to the weather. Anyway, de Burgh was also the right hand man of King John and defended Dover Castle from the French in 1216 and then again in Sandwich in 1217, so he wasn't a force to be reckoned with, but equally he seemed to have a heart.
Although it was in use as a pilgrim hospital, the site evolved into somewhat of a general infirmary for the poor of Dover. Wounded soldiers and those who didn't have a home to go to were welcomed at Maison Dieu as well as Corrodians (the elderly) who were given a permanent space within Maison Dieu towards the end of the medieval period. Unfortunately though, the Big Bully King put an end to all this, just like so much other history Jamie and I explore.
When Henry VIII made the country a Protestant one, the result banned monasteries and pilgrimages, so everything Maison Dieu stood for was gone in a puff of smoke. The shrine of Thomas Becket was destroyed at Canterbury, the stained glass windows removed from Maison Dieu and no more pilgrimages were welcomed, meaning that Maison Dieu needed to adapt and quickly as the Whitefriar beliefs it was mimicking was also not allowed.
So the site became the smallest victualling yard that supplied the Royal Navy. It provided ships' biscuit, salted meat (pork and beef), and beer instead which was handy as the port was so close. This carried on for almost 300 years and the yard was completely self sufficient with its own mill, bakehouse, abattoir, and cooperage to make the barrels to store the goods.
During the Victorian era repairs had to be made to the site, specifically the stone hall which needed a new roof in order for the building to survive. Add ons were then made as well as new stained glass windows although some fragments of the original medieval ones were found recently when the site was excavated.
In 1834 the remains of the pilgrims chapel was converted into a magistrates court. Upon construction it was raised three meters and prison cells were built in the space below. Prisoners unlucky enough to be kept here were brought to the dock by the stairs from the cells and through a hatch which still survives under the carpet to this day. It was due to this that the expression 'Send him down!' was born as the guilty were sent straight down through the hatch to begin their sentence.
In 1868 the prison was fitted with a treadwheel where those who got hard labour as their punishment turned a big wheel with their feet, a bit like a hamster. This was a punishment without mercy as even children were sentenced to it and they'd do it for hours on end. Of course the court was still in use until 1978 but luckily the wheel was removed quite some time before that!
In terms of the panto, this year it was Cinderella, one of our favourites. The crew were as funny as ever and the very grand hall didn't mar the performance or distract me in any way like I thought it might. Overall this is a lovely venue and I'm glad it can live on in the modern day considering it has had such a vast history. However we will be back to revisit as we need to have a proper look together.
DISCLAIMER: Now for the official bit. This blog does not receive any paid promotions from the places mentioned above. We have not been approached to promote or act as spokespersons for any attraction mentioned within this post and this is simply a post intended to act as a day in the life of a couple on a cute date. All photos included are taken by ourselves and as such the rights for these images our ours, no links, brands, or companies mentioned otherwise belong or are associated with Phantom Adventures UK. We are responsible only for this blog. Opinions are our own and not influenced by any third party source..
If you have any recommendations on places to visit or somewhere you would like to see on the blog, please feel free to drop us a message on instagram under @phantomadventuresuk or email us at phantomadventuresuk@gmail.com
Comments
Post a Comment