Monument record 1842/9 - St Leonard's Leper Hospital, Unlocated

A hospital for Lepers was extant at Thrapston in 1246 and 1305

{1} Recorded in 1246, 1248 and 1305.

{3} A hospital for Lepers was extant at Thrapston in 1246 and 1305. It was dedicated to St Leonard. It is only known through Forest documents in the Public Record Office.

{4} A leper hospital existed in Thrapston in the C12th to early C14th. In 1235 John de Nevill gave to Baldwin de Veer fifteen oaks for his hospital there. It is mentioned again in 1246 and 1305. Being a leper hospital it may be expected to have been sited on or beyond the edge of the town, but it cannot have been the same as the hermitage on the bridge (see below), for in contemporary sources that was described as dedicated to St. Thomas the Martyr. The only isolated old enclosures in Thrapston in 1782 lay on the south side of the Huntingdon road near the eastern extremity of the township, called Pen Close, and a tiny enclosure on the north edge of the township called Round Close. However both may prove to have been a late pieces of enclosure and not to have medieval origins. If so then the hospital is perhaps most likely to have lain at the eastern end of the town. It is possible that it may incorporate a cemetery, but no burials have been found around the town other than those from the site of the manor, which are most likely to date from the late Saxon period. The demise of the leper hospital before the dissolution is typical of such hospitals which generally were small and poorly endowed and are regularly seen in decline in the 14th century. In some cases, as at Brackley, the chapel of the hospital remained in use as a chantry chapel, surviving in some cases until the dissolution of the 16th century chantries, but there is no evidence of this at Thrapston.

<1> Knowles; Hadcock, 1971, Medieval Religious Houses England and Wales, p.335+398 (checked) (Book). SNN10192.

<2> Serjeantson R.M.; Ryland W. (Editors), 1906, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, p.165 (unchecked) (Series). SNN100369.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1950s/1960s, Ordnance Survey Record Cards, SP97NE22 (unchecked) (Index). SNN443.

<4> Foard G., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Thrapston (Medieval + Post Medieval), (unchecked) (Digital archive). SNN100460.

<5> 1781 (circa), Thrapston Inclosure Map, (unchecked) (Map). SNN100461.

Record last edited

Feb 10 2025 7:19PM