St Leonard's Chapel
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1002726
- Date first listed:
- 04-Dec-1951
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1002726
- Date first listed:
- 04-Dec-1951
Location
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Dorset (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Blandford Forum
- National Grid Reference:
- ST 89074 06474
Summary
Medieval chapel called St Leonard’s Chapel.
Reasons for Designation
A medieval hospital was a religious or secular institution which provided spiritual and medical care. Half of the hospitals were suppressed by 1539 as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. A small number of hospitals were established solely for the treatment of leprosy. These leprosy houses were specifically located and arranged to deal with contagious disease. Their main aim was to provide the sufferer with permanent isolation from society. In contrast to other hospitals they were normally located away from population foci. The medieval chapel called St Leonard’s Chapel formed part of such a hospital. The chapel contained a range of furnishings and fittings appropriate for Christian worship in the pre-Reformation period. The chapel was designed for congregational worship and was probably originally divided into two main parts: the nave, which provided accommodation for the laity, and the chancel, which was the main domain of the priest and contained the principal altar. Chapels were often abandoned as their communities and supporting finances declined or disappeared after the Dissolution in the 1540s.
Despite subsequent re-use as a barn and restoration the chapel will retain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction and specific use as a chapel within a leper hospital.
History
See Details.
Details
This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 17 December 2015. The record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.
The monument includes a medieval chapel situated on the south eastern side of Blandford Forum. The chapel survives as a small restored rectangular stone and brick built building standing to full height with a replacement roof and modern strengthening buttresses. There are original traceried windows and moulded pointed doorways. The building dates to the 15th century and was originally associated with St Leonard’s Hospital for affected by leprosy founded in 1282. The chapel is Listed Grade II.
This list entry was subject to a Minor Enhancement on 23 May 2023 to amend the description
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- DO 152
- Legacy System:
- RSM - OCN
Sources
Other
PastScape Monument No:-205440
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 10-Jun-2026 at 19:19:45.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.