Maison Dieu, Faversham

Maison Dieu
Maison Dieu
Coordinates	51°18′41″N 0°52′25″E / 51.3115°N 0.8735°E / 51.3115; 0.8735
OS grid reference	TR0036260855
Built	1234
Built for	Henry III
Governing body	English Heritage
Listed Building
Type	Grade II*
Designated	29 July 1950
Reference no.	1069431
Maison Dieu location in Kent

Maison Dieu ('House of God') is a hospital, monastery, hostel, retirement home and royal lodge commissioned by Henry III in 1234. The timber framed building is located beside Watling Street, now the A2 road, in Ospringe, Faversham, in Kent, England.

Edward Hasted noted in 1798 that it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The foundation consisted of a master and three regular brethren of the Order of the Holy Cross. There were also two secular clerks, who celebrated mass for the soul of the founder and the souls of his royal predecessors and successors. They were required to be hospitable, and to entertain the poor and needy passers-by and pilgrims (heading along Watling Street). There was a chamber in the building which the king used to rest when he passed this way; it was called Camera Regis, or the king's chamber.^[1] The history and records of the building also give insight into the way sick and disabled people fitted into society during the medieval period. For example, in 1235 the 'blind daughter of Andrew of Faversham' was admitted to Maison Dieu as a 'servant of God and sister of the hospital'.^[2]