Moat Sole

Origins 

In medieval times, this street skirted the western edge of the medieval Corn Market and then connected with Woodnesborough Gate through the town rampart. Sole means low-lying ground or a pond. Although the town wall ditch is close by, the name ‘Moat’ probably comes from ‘William Moat’s barn’ which stood near this spot. 

St Thomas’s Hospital 

The row of almshouses here is known as St Thomas’s Hospital, named in honour of St Thomas Becket. The hospital was founded in 1392 by Thomas Ellis, a wealthy merchant draper. Housing 12 poor folk, the building was originally located near New Street before it was demolished in the mid-19th century and relocated to its present spot. The new hospital was built in the Victorian Gothic style, using parts of the old building. The gateway here is 14th century and was taken from the original hospital. Another part of the old building, a window, now stands in the churchyard of St Peter’s Church. MOAT SOLE The Red Cow The Corn Market, later the Cattle Market, was probably laid out on its present site in the late 1200s. It was originally in an area known as ‘marcatfeelde’, in the southern part of the parish of St Peter’s. Credit: Sandwich Guildhall Museum. d02791 Since 1995, St Thomas’s Hospital has been run by an independent charity that charges no rent, just a below-market maintenance charge, for the upkeep and repair of the buildings 

The Red Cow 

Nearer the Guildhall is the Red Cow Inn, a 16th century timber-framed, jettied building. In the 18th century this served as the workhouse and laundry for the Parish of St Mary. The building was first converted into a pub during the mid-19th century. Its closeness to the Cattle Market meant that it soon became the place where deals made at the weekly market were agreed and settled. Opposite the Guildhall stands the United Reformed Church, built in 1706. The roof is supported by two large pillars, said to be from the masts of sailing ships that had carried Huguenot refugees from France in the 17th century. 

The Hospital of St John 

A row of small cottages, set well back from the road, marks the site of the 13th-century Hospital of St John. This was founded in the 1280s by several wealthy townsfolk including wool merchant Thomas Shelvin, Mayor John de Ho and ship owner, John Long, although upkeep of the establishment fell to the town council. The hospital was intended to house 12 townsfolk. Over time, and perhaps from the beginning, it also catered for the homeless poor and the sick. No medieval buildings survive on the site, but originally they included a hall and a chapel 

Woodnesborough Gate 

At the end of Moat Sole lay Woodnesborough Gate which led through the town rampart. The gate was demolished at the end of the 18th century. It was first recorded in 1468 and may have later been rebuilt. The only surviving illustration of it dates to 1792 when it was partially ruined. The structure seems to have originally consisted of a tall central archway flanked on each side by a rectangular tower. One of the main functions of the gate may have been to protect an open channel that brought fresh water to the town from a spring at Woodnesborough some 2km (1.2 miles) away. The original well-head building at the spring site was excavated in 2014