The brethren elected to this foundation must, according to the statutes, be either tenants or servants of the founder or his heirs, and resident in the county of Warwick, or soldiers of the Sovereign, more especially those who had been wounded on active service; the latter to be chosen from the parishes of Warwick, Kenilworth, and Stratford–on–Avon, or from those of Wooton–under–Edge and Erlingham, in the county of Gloucester. Of recent years radical changes have been made in the charity, one of these being that provision is now made for the housing and maintenance in the hospital itself of twelve women, wives of the brethren. Nowadays, as none of the founder’s heirs have tenants resident in either of the two counties, the brethren are chosen under the second provision we have mentioned, and all of them have been soldiers of the Crown. Here now dwell in comfort and peace the master and the twelve brethren, the former having a salary of £400 and a residence; and the latter pensions amounting to £80 each, with separate apartments, consisting of bedroom, sitting–room, and pantry, with the use of a common kitchen and the services of a cook and housekeeper. There are many interesting customs in connection with the hospital; one of which is that the brethren must daily attend service in the chapel, and are obliged when they appear in public to wear a blue gown, on the sleeve of which is worn a silver badge with the crest of the bear and ragged staff. With one exception these badges are the ancient ones originally provided; the exception being a modern reproduction in facsimile of the badge which was stolen many years ago. The beautiful specimen of a half–timbered building, which stands raised upon a lime–shaded terrace above the road level, is approached through an arch gateway, above which is the inscription, “Hospitivm Collegiatvm Roberti Dvdlei Comitis Leycestriae,” with the date 1571, and the Dudley device, a double–tailed lion rampant in the left spandril, and the device of the Sidneys, a barbed dart, in the other. On the front of the house is a fine old sun–dial, with the initials E. R., and there are also thirteen shields, with the armorial bearings of the various families connected with the founder, the most distinguished having been placed over the archway leading to the inner quadrangle. On the north side of the latter is the master’s residence, behind which is a pleasant old–fashioned garden, from the western side of which there is a fine view of the surrounding country and the distant Cotswold Hills.