Roxburgh, Hospital

According to records, a hospital dedicated to St John the Evangelist appears to have been founded in Roxburgh in the later half of the twelfth century, in the reign of Alexander III (1249-86), and is mentioned in the records of Kelso Abbey. It is likely that the hospital was associated with the church of St John the Evangelist at Roxburgh Castle.

Medieval hospitals were either monastic foundations, or secular foundations endowed by a wealthy patron. One important patron in medieval Scotland was King James IV. Such was his interest in medicine that he appears to have studied the subject himself and several contemporary accounts document his attempts at surgery. He practised dentistry on himself and others (including his own surgeon) and studied human physiology amongst other things. Unfortunately, the king was not always successful in practising what he had learnt; one woman was paid modest compensation after a cataract operation performed by the king went wrong and left her blind.

Text prepared by RCAHMS as part of the Accessing Scotland's Past project

NT73SW 20.03 c. 717 340.

There is a reference to this hospital in 1330 and again on the 28th June 1426; the original foundation appears to have occured in the reign of Alexander III (1249-1286). It may have been associated with St John the Evangelist's church in Roxburgh castle (NT73SW 12).

I B Cowan and D E Easson, 1976.