Dover Town Hall and the remains of the Maison Dieu
Maison Dieu (foreground, with later Town Hall buildings in the background).
Location	Dover, Kent
Coordinates	51°07′41″N 1°18′32″E / 51.1280°N 1.3089°E / 51.1280; 1.3089
Built	1203
Listed Building – Grade I
Designated	17 December 1973
Reference no.	1069499
Location of Dover Town Hall and the remains of the Maison Dieu in Kent

The Hospital of St Mary, Domus Dei, or Maison Dieu (Latin/Norman French – house of God), is a medieval building in Dover, England which forms the oldest part of Dover Town Hall. The Town Hall and remains of mediaeval Maison Dieu were Grade I listed in 1973.^[1]

Mason Dieu was founded in 1203 by Hubert de Burgh, the Constable of Dover Castle, as the "Hospital of the Mason Dieu" to accommodate pilgrims coming from the Continent to visit the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral.^[2] de Burgh gave the manors of River and Kingsdown to the hospital in order to fund it.^[3] Simon de Wardune also gave some land.^[4]

The original buildings consisted of one large hall (known as the Pilgrims' Hall)^[1] with a kitchen and living quarters attached for the Master and Brethren who 'practised hospitality to all strangers'. The hospital accommodated permanent pensioners and other wounded and poor soldiers, as well as pilgrims.^[2]

In 1227, a chapel was added at the north-east end of the hall, and Henry III attended its consecration. Today, this chapel survives as a courtroom, having been converted in the nineteenth century by the town council of Dover.

A "Great Chamber", built in 1253, is thought to be the present 'Stone Hall', which has interesting stained glass and contains the town corporation's civic paintings, Cinque Ports Volunteers regimental flags, arms, and armour.^[2] A square tower, at the southernmost corner of the site, also date from this period (1250-1350).^[1]

St Edmund's Chapel was built next to the Maison Dieu and became a place of pilgrimage after the canonisation of Richard of Chichester in 1262.^[5]

When the Master and Brethren of the Hall signed an oath accepting Henry VIII's Act of Supremacy, declaring him the Head of the Church of England, in 1534, the institution's religious role ended.^[2] Ten years later, the building was surrendered to the Crown, together with its nearby subsidiary, St Edmund's Chapel. Between 1544 and 1831 the Maison Dieu served as a victualling store for naval vessels anchored nearby in the Downs. In 1665, Maison Dieu House was built, just to the south of the medieval hall, as accommodation for the Agent Victualler (the senior officer on site).^[6]

In 1834, the building was sold to the Corporation of Dover who used the Maison Dieu as the Town Hall.^[7] At first, the building was used by the Town Council with minimal restorations. The floor of the Stone Hall was raised, creating a basement level which was used as a prison, with two rows of vaulted cells either side of a central corridor. At the same time the old chapel was converted into a courtroom, again with prison cells below.

Eventually, the Council decided to fully restore the building, and in 1851 they agreed to implement renovations suggested by Victorian architect Ambrose Poynter.^[2] After seven years of fundraising for the project, William Burges, another famous Victorian architect, funded almost entirely by the council, began work on the restoration project. Burges's admiration of the original mediaeval style can be seen in such parts of his renovation as grotesque animals and in the coats of arms incorporated into his new designs.^[2]

The 1865 Prison Act required the Council to improve its facilities, so in 1867 the medieval Pilgrim's Hall (which stood alongside and parallel to the Stone Hall, to the north-west) was demolished and replaced with a brand new cell block.^[1] That same year, a new Council Chamber was built, adjacent to the north-east end of the Stone Hall (again with cells on the floor below).

In 1881, however, the prison block was itself demolished, and work began on erecting a new grand public hall in its place. That year William Burges died; but his designs were largely complete and the project was completed after his death by Pullan and Chapple, his partners.^[2] The new hall, or 'assembly room', was opened by the Duke and Duchess of Connaught on 14 July 1883, and it subsequently came to be known as the Connaught Hall.^[1] On the High Street, Burges linked the south-east end of the new hall to the gable end of the Stone Hall by inserting a clock tower (with a projecting clock by E. Dent & Co., installed in 1883).^[8] At the opposite end of the new hall, to the north-east, he added a 'Mayoral Suite' containing the Mayor's Parlour (with its large oriel window) and other offices and function rooms; this extended the building's elevation (in a more 'domestic' style) along Ladywell, and then continued to the south-west (extending towards the Council Chamber and largely enclosing the medieval chapel-turned-courtroom of 1227).^[1]

In 1902 the Connaught Hall was furnished with an organ, made by Norman and Beard of Norwich and presented by Edward F. Astley.^[1]

In 1939, with the outbreak of the Second World War, the building's stained-glass windows were removed to be protected until the end of the conflict.^[9]

The Town Hall and remains of mediaeval Maison Dieu were Grade I listed in 1973.^[1] Maison Dieu House was Grade II* listed in 1949.^[10] Maison Dieu is also a Scheduled Monument.^[11] A renovation programme work carried out from 2020 has uncovered much of Burges's decorative scheme, which is to be restored and reinstated.^[12]

The Maison Dieu continues to be used as one of the main meeting halls in Dover, as well as being open to public use for functions such as conferences, weddings, fairs, concerts, theatrical performances and the annual White Cliffs Winter Ales Festival.^[13] It remains the meeting place of Dover Town Council.^[14]

In the Stone Hall, above the entrance, is a large stained-glass window representing the benefactors of the building, with Hubert de Burgh in the centre wearing a surcoat with his armorial bearings. Henri II and Henri III stand on the right side of de Burgh, Henri IV on the left side. The windows were a gift by Mrs Mary Bell (cousin and benefactor of William Kingsford, owner of Maison Dieu upon his death in 1856) in the 19th century. The windows were produced by William Wailes in 1856. The windows in the south wall were designed by Edward Poynter.^[9]

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