n, and three sisters. The master of the hospital was to be at its
head, otherwise the institutions were to be distinct; but by the middle
of the sixteenth century the hospital had practically absorbed the
almshouse. At the end of the next century, in 1696, the master and
brethren of the hospital made a public repudiation of their duties, and
commenced either to destroy the buildings or to convert them to other
than their original uses; and shortly after the southern side of
Beaufort's quadrangle was pulled down. The abuses were rectified in the
middle of the present century, and now a body of trustees, under the
control of the Charity Commissioners, has the management of the two
institutions. All the endowments of the hospital are still intact.

[Illustration: CHURCH OF ST CROSS: VIEW OF EAST END FROM NAVE.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd., Photo._]

[Illustration: COUNTY HALL, WITH ROUND TABLE. From an Old Print.]

After one has passed through the remains of an outer court, the entrance
to the buildings is by a gatehouse known by the name of the "Beaufort
Tower." Over the groined vault of the doorway is the founder's chamber,
surmounted by an octagonal turret. Three niches exist above the exterior
or northern window, one of which has a kneeling figure of Beaufort,
while the representation of the Holy Cross, formerly in the centre, and
the figure of Henry de Blois have vanished. The niche on the inner side
used to be occupied by a statue of the Virgin, which, after surviving
the Civil War, fell about a hundred years ago. At the Porter's Lodge in
the gateway the time-honoured "dole" of beer and bread is given to
visitors. The square quadrangle on which the gate opens has the
brethren's rooms on the west (the right hand as one enters), the
ambulatory or cloister on the east, the church of St Cross at the
south-east corner, and to the right of the church a view of meadows
where the buildings were pulled down in 1789. In the centre of the grass
is a sundial. Next the Beaufort Tower at the south side is the
refectory, and beyond that the master's house. The refectory has three
two-light Perpendicular windows, a high-pitched wooden roof, and a
minstrels' gallery at the west end. It is now only used as a dining-hall
on great occasions. The master's house is thought to be the old "Hundred
Mennes Hall," but is now furnished with modern windows. The cloister on
the east side is of sixteenth-century work, paved with large red tiles;
"the ro