Flambard endowed the hospital with a range of lands, including the manor of Caldecotes, the mill on Durham's Millburn, and corn from fifteen of his villages.

[5] In 1144, William of St. Barbara, the rightly elected Bishop, was forced to retreat to, and fortify St Giles Church after his abortive entry into Durham was beaten back by Cumin's men.

To further secure the finances of the hospital, Puiset granted a charter allowing the creation of the borough of St Giles, the nucleus of modern Gilesgate, with many burgesses probably drawn from Caldecotes and Clifton.

Kepier was frequently bound up with the politics of the border country, with Edward I and Queen Isabella staying at the hospital on their journeys north.

Kepier Hospital was inspected in 1535 as part of Henry VIII's Valor Ecclesiasticus survey of monasteries.

Henry ordered the closure of the lesser monastic houses (including Kepier), prompting the doomed Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion.

The Master of the Hospital supported the Bishop of Durham in opposing the Pilgrims, but its (lay) steward Sir John Bulmer was executed for participating in the rebellion.

Kepier and its lands were granted to Henry's Secretary of State, Sir William Paget, although these soon reverted to the Crown and thence to a succession of lay owners including the Scotsman John Cockburn of Ormiston.