Where hospitable custom of eight centuries survives. Free ale and bread for wayfarers. Survival of the old monasteries where wayfarers were given food and shelter for the night, there still remains at the ancient city of Winchester, the 800 year old Hospital of St Cross, where a horn of ale and a slice of bread can be had, free of charge, by anyone who cares to ask for it. The hospital was founded in 1136 to shelter thirteen needy men and to give food and drink to poor wanderers who might knock at the gates. Now the occupants of the hospital number fifteen and are known as Brothers of St Cross. They wear flat hats and long dark cloaks, emblazoned with a silver cross, in a style that has come down through the centuries, unchanged. Photo shows, the ancient dresser in the kitchen at the Hospital of St Cross, near Winchester, Hampshire. The pewter plates are 500 years old. A Brother of the order is standing by..