In an interesting talk, albeit on a sad subject, Julie Wileman described the work undertaken by the Archaeology Department of Winchester University during 2008-2010. Since the site is on agricultural land, each season’s digging can only commence once the current crop has been harvested in August.

Julie started by describing the history and characteristics of leprosy, a disease greatly feared in the Middle Ages on account of its slow, disfiguring and disabling progression and the common belief that it resulted from a lascivious lifestyle. Those suffering from the disease were shunned and reviled; deprived of movement and property rights; forced to wear distinctive clothing and to carry a bell or clapper to warn people of their approach. Although some lepers remained in the community, many were confined in hospitals such as St Mary Magdalene, where they lived a quasi monastic life.

From the 11th century there was a surge in construction of leper hospitals, with 130 in England by 1226. The hospital at Winchester housed 18 lepers (9 of each sex), reduced to a total of 14 in the 14th century. Rules within a hospital could be strict with strong emphasis on liturgy and religious observance. Some hospitals were badly run and a system of inspection was instituted, with the master of the house responsible for providing a level of care. Leper hospitals were often provided with land and stock, enabling them to sell their produce at local markets.

Leper hospitals were usually situated on the outskirts of a town in a clearly visible position to remind those passing of the need for charitable giving. St Mary Magdalene was sited on an old Roman road and is reputed to have been founded c1148 by Henry de Blois, Bishop of Winchester, who also founded the St Cross Hospital in Winchester, which some RAS members visited as part of our summer outing in 2010.

However, evidence from a brief Time Team excavation in 2000 and subsequent work by Winchester University support the existence of an institution for lepers in Winchester before the Norman Conquest, probably late 10th century.

By the mid 14th century the incidence of leprosy was decreasing. The leper hospital was in decline and was re-founded in Tudor times as almshouses. Since it was never a strictly religious foundation, it escaped demolition under Henry VIII but the stone buildings were knocked down and replaced by brick-built almshouses. By the 16th century leprosy had died out and the hospital was dissolved, although parts of its structure remained until the 18th century. During the English Civil War the site was used as a barracks, whilst later still the buildings were used as a prison for Dutch sailors captured during the Anglo-Dutch wars. This forced the final dispersal of inmates from the almshouses; the buildings became ruinous and were finally dismantled in 1789.

Archaeological and documentary evidence, including drawings made just before demolition, show that the complex of buildings included dormitories, a chapel and accommodation for the master. There was also a communal hall with an altar at one end for those too sick to attend chapel. Illustrations of the chapel reveal elaborate internal decoration with traces of wall paintings and a gallery for the master. Following demolition, some structural features, such as floor tiles and the chapel door, were removed for reuse in other buildings in the city, including Winchester cathedral.

Investigations by Time Team in 2000 revealed that much of the hospital foundations, including chapel, almshouses and extensive cemetery remained buried beneath today’s open fields.

Subsequent work by Winchester University has located several structures, including a chapel, almshouse range, infirmary and the master’s lodge, as well as evidence of a precinct wall and earlier boundary ditches, although the foundations of the gatehouse and barn are still to be discovered. The excavations have revealed a series of occupation phases, with stone from earlier dismantled buildings reused in construction of the master’s lodge and almshouses. The almshouses were partitioned, each with a fireplace. The remains of a cobbled surface and drain indicate a dry path between the master’s house and infirmary.

Two phases of chapel construction were identified, whilst an older wall on a different alignment may have formed part of an Anglo-Saxon chapel. Graves within the medieval chapel included a plaster-lined tomb with Purbeck marble slab, whilst a group of graves to the north of the chapel, one overlaid by a twelfth century wall, appear to belong to a late Saxon cemetery. Several of the skeletons show signs of leprosy and two have been carbon dated to AD970-1030. Related finds of writing equipment, especially styli and pre-Conquest pottery, point to the existence of an Anglo-Saxon foundation with timbered infirmary and chapel.

The survival of a leper hospital is rare and contemporary descriptions are few. During its chequered history the foundation at Winchester lost much of its property and funds, and considerable damage was caused to its structure by neglect and misuse. Nevertheless, the work undertaken by Winchester University continues to provide a valuable insight into the buildings and layout of a medieval leper hospital and its later transformations.

Jennifer Hunt