Welcome to St John's
St John's Hospital is a registered charity providing Almshouse accommodation, community grants and individual financial support to deprived people in Bath.
The historic charitable trust is as old as Bath itself. Founded in 1174, it has served the community for over 800 years. Today, its vision is to provide an improved quality of life, through housing and support for older people, and through grant making, for others who are disadvantaged in some way.
The full name of the charity is The Hospital of St John the Baptist with the Chapel of St. Michael, annexed with St Catherine's Hospital. It also encompasses Bath Municipal Charities and a group of other local charities. For convenience and everyday use, it is affectionately known simply as St John's.
Two new way finders have been placed in the courtyard at Chapel Court. One can be seen at the Westgate Buildings entrance, beside the Shickle Garden, and the other can be found through the John Wood House archway, from the Cross Bath side.
The plinths have been produced to help tourists, tour guides, visitors and guests to St John's, who frequently find themselves disoriented in the city centre. The signs are also designed to inform and educate readers about what the historic almshouses charity does and the grants that St John's make available, through the Grant Making Programme.
Recently the courtyard was relaid with new flagstones, which look in keeping with the newly refurbished buildings of John Wood and Fitzjocelyn Houses, as well as Chapel House, which was re-opened in 2010.
The signs highlight different aspects of each building on the site, including Rosenberg House which is due for modernisation early next year.