Religious house

The W side of the Richmond Hospital complex occupies the site of a convent built by the Benedictine Nuns in 1688 by Royal Charter of King James 11. Shortly after it's foundation it was taken over by the Dominican nuns who substantially re-built it. In 1811 the building was incorporated into the Richmond Surgical Hospital and the chapel was incorporated into the 'Chapel Ward', and later the stores of a new Richmond Hospital. Test excavations in 1994 revealed the much disturbed remains of the Benedictine convent along with several phases of later building (Moylan 1944-45, 104 Simpson, 1995, 29).