Aberdeen, Leper Hospital
Leper Hospital (Medieval)
Site Name Aberdeen, Leper Hospital
Classification Leper Hospital (Medieval)
Alternative Name(s) Leper House, 4-38 King's Crescent, E31
Canmore ID 20031
Site Number NJ90NW 13
NGR NJ 9412 0722
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/20031
- Council Aberdeen, City Of
- Parish Aberdeen
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District City Of Aberdeen
- Former County Aberdeenshire
NJ90NW 13 9412 0722
See also NJ90NW 34 and NJ90NW 71.
(NJ 9412 0722) Site of Lepers' Hospital (NR)
OS 1:500 map, Aberdeenshire, 1st ed., (1866).
The site of a Leper Hospital, founded before 1363. It survived the Reformation, but was in ruins in 1661 and its lands were sold to King's College in 1718. The site was known as 'Lepers' Croft' (Ordnance Survey Name Book [ONB] 1866), but there is now no trace of the building. (See also NJ90NW 71)
Name Book 1866; D E Easson 1957.
Visited by OS (JLD) 12 September 1952.
NJ 941 072. Six trenches were excavated ahead of road construction in the supposed area of the leper hospital. A few post-holes may have been medieval features, but the depth of overburden (in excess of 3m) prohibited further excavation.
Sponsor: HBM.
A Cameron 1990.
NJ 940 072. Observation during construction work in King's Crescent provided no evidence of the leper hospital.
Sponsor: City of Aberdeen.
J A Stones 1994a.
(Location cited as NJ 9412 0722). Excavation in 1990 by Aberdeen City Archaeological Unit revealed post- and stakeholes in trench 4 only.
NMRS, MS/712/83.
There are no visible remains of this medieval leper hospital.
Visited by RCAHMS (JRS, ATW), 24 February 1997.
Publication Account (1988)
The first record of Dundee's leper house occurs on 20 Junde 1498,1 although its foundation may have been considerably older. It is referred to again in 1540 as the 'houses of the lepers'.2 By 1552, however, the council records show that the leper house was in a bad state of repair3 and by 1556 'decayit'.4 Whether renovation was effected is doubtful, for in 1564, 'the leper men's yaird' or 'sick men's yairds' were leased for agricultural purpose.5
The location of the leper house is unknown, but it was almost certainly outside the 16th-century town walls and East Port.
NOTES
1. RMS ii, No 2466.
2. Hay, Charter, 30.
3. DDARC, Burgh and Head Court Book, 3 28 Sept 1550/21 Jan 1554, fo 149.
4. Maxwell Dundee (1891), 68.
5. Maxwell Dundee (1891), 68.
Information from ‘Historic Dundee: The Archaeological Implications of Development’ (1988).
Publication Account (1997)
A leper house may have been founded by 1333, when Spitalhill is referred to as mons hospitalis, although this name may be derived from St Peter's Hospital which stood on the upper slopes of the hill. By 1363, there is firm documentation for 'the houses of the lepers' which was at the foot of the hill. Such a situation, outwith the town, to ensure isolation of the sick and avoid contamination of the healthy, was the normal practice of many medieval towns. Leper hospitals, however, housed those suffering not only from leprosy but also other skin diseases and, indeed, the sick in general. The leper house is referred to often as the 'the sick house' from 1512 onwards, although described as the hospital leprosum in 1526. This dual appellation has perhaps caused confusion and the belief in a sick house elsewhere, near Futty Port. The leper house(s) and sick house were identical. In 1574, the council was ordered to collect a rental due on land belonging to the hospital 'betwix New and Auld Aberdeen' and with this to have the leper house repaired and thatched. The house was still in use in 1610 when a leper woman was in residence. By 1661 it was in ruins, and its lands were sold to King's College in 1718.6
Information from ‘Historic Aberdeen: The Archaeological Implications of Development’ (1997).
