St Michael's Leper Hospital

The Master's House 2007

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]

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 lying 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 15, 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. ^ a b "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. ^ "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.