Hospital of St. John the Baptist

The Hospital of Saint John the Baptist features a distinctive set of stone gables and a small, quiet chapel that sits right against the busy street. Founded in the twelfth century by Bishop Reginald Fitz Jocelin, the hospital provided shelter and food for travelers and the poor who came to Bath for the healing waters. When the dissolution of the monasteries threatened the building, the city corporation bought it to ensure the charity continued. It has operated as an almshouse for over eight hundred years.