The formers gardens

In 1534, the Parliament of Normandy created the Grand Bureau des Pauvres Valides (point of interest No. 22), responsible for receiving, housing and feeding the poor, whose numbers, following wars and epidemics, reached 15% of the population at that time. In 1681, it became a General Hospital by edict of King Louis XIV, and was required to take in the elderly, foundlings, the infirm and incurable, while the Hôtel-Dieu received the sick for treatment.

To feed all their residents and "convalescents", the hospitals functioned essentially in autarky. Subsistence was ensured thanks to the many farms (28), mills (5) as well as agricultural land and woods that they owned. The land holdings of the Hospice Général and the Hôtel-Dieu represented nearly 1,500 hectares in the 19th century.

The sale of surpluses contributed to the revenues of these establishments in order to finance additional purchases.

While bread made up more than half of the food budget, the rest was made up of beer, wine, cider, brandy, jams, meat, fish and vegetables.

Millers, bakers, cooks, butchers, brewers and fountain workers were responsible for preparing the food, sometimes with the help of the sick (called "used"), supervised by nuns who were responsible for its proper management. The nuns were assisted by the expenditure officer, who was responsible for overseeing everything to do with food, the porter, who was responsible for ensuring that foodstuffs were brought in (until 1895, he was required to search visitors and confiscate any food found), and the head cook.

The Hospice General garden, located between the city walls and the Cours de l'Aubette, on a reclaimed marshy area, contributed, like the many others and thanks to their gardeners, to providing the vegetables, fruits and herbs necessary for food needs.