St Michael's Leper Hospital

The remaining ruins of St Michael's Leper Hospital, a mediaeval hospital, lie in a patch of scrubland in the Saltisford area in the north of the town of Warwick, England, and are of the last remaining leper hospital in England.[1] The hospital, which was founded by Roger, Earl of Warwick in about 1135, is classified by English Heritage as a scheduled monument.[2] The remains of two of the hospital buildings can still be seen on the site - a chapel and the 15th century, two-storey Master's House. They are both grade II* listed buildings.[3]

The Master's House 2007

History

The hospital was founded by Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick, in the vicinity of a church of the same name towards the end of the reign of Henry I of England, in about 1135.[4] The warden was a priest. In the 15th century the chapel was probably rebuilt after its parish was merged with the Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick.[5] The half-timbered, two-storey Master's House was also constructed around this time.[6]

In 1978 the then owner of Warwick Castle renovated the chapel had plans to move the buildings to the castle site but this was never realized.[7] The structural problems of the surviving Master's House mean that it is listed on Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register as 'very bad'.[8] In 2018 it was announced that after laying unused and covered up for "almost four decades"[9] £530,000 would be allocated to the site to use it for supported housing, preserving the older buildings in their current condition as best as possible.[10]

On January 15th 2021, Warwick District Council announced a Compulsory Purchase Order had been served on the owner of the site of the hospital to enable the scheme to proceed.[11]

Architecture

The two-storey "Master's" (or "Priest's") House stands furthest back from the road. It is timber-framed, although some additions have been made with bricks and concrete.[3]

References
  1. "Case study 1: The Leper Hospital, Saltisford". The Warwick Courier. Johnston Publishing. 9 January 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  2. "Information for record number 1927". Take the Timetrail with Warwickshire Museum. Warwickshire County Council.
  3. "St Michael's Place, Warwick". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  4. Page, pp. 115-117
  5. Stephens, pp. 533
  6. Stephens, pp. 418-427
  7. Our Warwickshire website article
  8. Heritage at Risk Register 2018, West Midlands (Report). Historic England. p. 49. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  9. 2008 Warwick Courier article
  10. 2018 Warwick Courier article
  11. https://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/news/article/557/council_serves_compulsory_purchase_order_on_warwick_s_medieval_leper_hospital

Bibliography
  • Page, William, ed. (1908). A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 2. Victoria County History.
  • Stephens, W.B., ed. (1969). A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 8: The City of Coventry and Borough of Warwick. Victoria County History.
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