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 Several members of UWHG attended a book launch of “‘Lepers Outside the Gate’: Excavations at the cemetery of the Hospital of St James and St Mary Magdalene, Chichester, 1986–87 and 1993”, edited by John Magilton, Frances Lee and Anthea Boylston. The launch took place at the Division of Archaeological, Geographical and Environmental Science, at the University of Bradford.
The paleopathologist, Dr Keith Manchester (an expert in the history of leprosy), and members of the team behind the excavations (1886-87 and again in 1993) and forensic archaeological investigations, presented some of the major findings regarding the remains of nearly 400 skeletons found on the site. Originally one of four leper hospitals in Chichester, St James and St Mary Magdalene was founded in 1118, to house 8 male patients. It is probable that the usual custom was followed of only admitting those lepers who had their faces disfigured by the disease – disfigured hands and feet were not considered in the Middle Ages to be sufficient cause for hospital admittance. The hospital’s last leper patient was admitted in 1418.
From circa 1540, women and children were allowed to enter as patients, and after the Reformation the hospital became almshouses for the poor. The hospital fell into ruin by the late 16th century, but continued to house paupers until it closed down in 1701, and was replaced with a cottage after the disused old building burnt down in 1781. The burials reflect the change in demographics, as the cemetery gradually filled up from the southern end northwards.
During the presentation at the University of Bradford, the focus was on the identification of leprosy in the skeletal remains and assessing the extent the disease amongst the hospital’s inmates. Only two comparable studies have been made in Europe, both based on the exhumation of skeletons where there was scant regard for archaeological evidence. It is the archaeological emphasis that has made the Chichester study of leprosy so significant. 26% of the adult burials were found to have signs of leprosy – these were mostly males buried at the west end of the cemetery. Over 100 children were buried on the site, most of them at the East end, reflecting the change from leper hospital to almshouses for the poor. The lack of grave goods has made it difficult to distinguish patients and inmates from staff and servants, but the presence of some elderly males amongst the early burials, without any signs of the disease, implies these may have been monks or carers
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The cottage which now stands on the site of the old leper hospital
Further reading:
'Hospitals: St James & St Mary Magdalen, Chichester', Extract from A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 2 (ed. William Page, 1973), Victoria County History, British History online -
‘Fracture patterns at the Medieval Leper Hospital in Chichester ‘ – abstract; Am J Phys Anthropol. 1998 Jan;105(1):43-55
‘The Big Dig – Chichester’, British Archaeology, Jan/Feb 2009
John Magilton, Frances Lee and Anthea Boylston (eds) - “‘Lepers Outside the Gate’: Excavations at the cemetery of the Hospital of St James and St Mary Magdalene, Chichester, 1986–87 and 1993” (2008, ISBN 9781902771748)
Chichester Observer, 4 Dec 2008
“The cemetery of the Leper Hospital of St Mary, Wycomb, Buckinghamshire” - Michael Farley and Keith Wayerhouse; ADHS Arch Data service
Chgannel 4 Time Team – Medieval leper hospital, Winchester 2001
Carole Rawcliffe - “Leprosy In Medieval England” (Boydell Press, 2006)
Jane Lunnon, UWHG Archivist
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