s in the suburbs; and in St. Giles's parish the actual
ground it stood on, the Pittance Croft, and a few minor places. But even
this remnant came into the possession of the rapacious King two years
later, at the dissolution of the monasteries, when Burton St. Lazar
itself fell into the tyrant's hands. Henry held these for six years,
then granted both to John Dudley, Viscount Lisle, Lord High Admiral.
From the time of the dissolution the hospital became a manor.

In the earliest charters the head of the hospital is styled Chaplain,
but not Master. The first Master mentioned is in 1212, and after this
the title was regularly used. The government was vested in the Master
or Warden and other officers, together with a certain number of sound
brethren and sisters--and in certain cases lepers themselves--who formed
a chapter. "They assembled in chapter, had a common seal, held courts as
lords of the manor."[1] There were also guardians or custodians, who did
not reside in the precincts of the hospital, and these seem to have been
chosen from the most eminent citizens; they formed no part of the
original scheme.

[1] "Some Account of the Hospital and Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields,"
1822, by John Parton.

[Illustration: SEAL OF ST. GILES'S HOSPITAL.]

The sisters appear to have been nurses, for there is no mention made of
any leprous sister. The chapel of the hospital appears from King Henry
II.'s charter to have been built on the site of some older parochial
church. The Bull of Pope Alexander mentions that the hospital wall
enclosed eight acres. Within this triangular space, which is at present
roughly bounded by the High Street, Charing Cross Road, and Shaftesbury
Avenue, was one central building or mansion for the lepers, several
subordinate buildings, the chapel, and the gate-house. Whether the
number of lepers was reduced when the hospital possessions were
curtailed we are not told. After the hospital buildings fell into the
hands of Lord Dudley they underwent many changes. The principal building
he converted into a mansion for his own use; this was the manor-house.
It stood between the present Denmark Street and Lloyd's Court, and its
site is occupied by a manufactory. After two years Lord Dudley obtained
from the King license to transfer all his newly-gained estates to Sir
Wymonde Carew, but there seems reason to suppose that Lord Dudley
remained in possession of the manor-house until his attainder in the
reign of