Basingstoke Archaeological and Historical Society (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Basingstoke Archaeological and Historical Society

10:17am Wednesday 4th November 2009 in

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THE society’s 2009/2010 season of monthly meetings continued on October 8, when Drs Simon Roffey and Phil Marter, of Winchester University, described the results of a successful second year of excavations in 2009 at St Mary Magdalene Leper Hospital, Winchester.

Leper hospitals are comparatively rare among medieval building survivals and in this case the site happens to be well preserved. It appears to have gone out of use when leprosy died out probably in the early 15th century becoming a charitable foundation for the poor.

From the 17th century it has been used only twice: as a military prison during the Dutch Wars, when the buildings were extensively damaged, and as a military hospital during the First World War when, perhaps by sheer good luck, there was no serious consequence to building remains.

Unusually detailed drawings of it in the late 18th century have survived which, apart from being of great interest, have proved invaluable aids to interpretation during the excavation process.

So far, it has been revealed that from small beginnings in the 12th century the site evolved to include a chapel and almshouses along with a gatehouse, precinct wall with drainage systems and possible service buildings.

Perhaps surprisingly, evidence points to sound construction and some degree of comfort in contrast to the generally held opinion that building standards for leper hospitals were inferior to those applied to other medieval hospitals.

Excavations are planned to continue from 2010 for a further three years. During the past month members have taken part in field walking on a late Bronze Age site at Cholderton, in the Anna Valley, while the committee continues to develop the plan for a visit early next year to Malta.

The next meeting will be held at Church Cottage at 7.30pm on Thursday, November 12, when Dr Richard Carter will describe the results of his researches into “Mesolithic Settlement and Subsistence in Southern Britain” during a period when hunter-gatherer groups declined with the spread of farming which was to become the dominant human activity of the Neolithic.