The Great Fire of 1450
The great Fire of 1450
Indulgences granted by the Bishop of Bath and Wells
The following are indulgences granted by the Bishop of Bath and Wells, Thomas Beckington, to those who gave relief to the sufferers of the Great Fire in Yeovil in 1450.
Grant by the
Bishop - on
representations
by the vicar and
parishioners of
the parish
church of Yevell
that on the
Feast of Holy
Trinity last 117
houses in that
town were
accidentally
destroyed by
fire, among them
being 15
dwellings
belonging to the
Chantry of the
Holy Trinity
in the said
church, 11
belonging to the
Chantry of the
Virgin Mary
outside the said
church, 19
belonging to
another
Chantry of the
Virgin Mary in
the said church,
and 2 belonging
to the almshouse
(see note) of
the Town, and
that they intend
to rebuild the
same if helped
by the charity
and alms of the
faithful - for
forty days'
indulgence to
all contrite and
confessed
persons giving
of their goods
for the above
purpose, to last
for one year.
Wells Palace, 26 June 1450
Note: The almshouse described here is not the Woborn Almshouse or hospital that was founded in Yeovil under letters patent granted by King Edward IV, bearing the date 9th November 1476 - some 26 years before. There were certainly two other almshouses; one on the corner of Middle Street and Vicarage Street, the other roughly where the old Liberal Club (today's 94 Club) now stands.
