The Warden Chapter I - Hiram's Hospital

In which we are introduced to the gentle and unassuming Rev. Septimus Harding, a minor canon turned precentor and warden of Hiram’s Hospital, an ancient charity for aged wool-carders in the cathedral town of Barchester. Amidst modest murmurs concerning the estate’s management, Mr Harding’s kind nature and modest generosity stand in quiet contrast to the prudent stewardship and clerical hierarchy that shape his daily existence.