Piece of wall belonging to the original St Nicholas's Hospital

St Nicholas's Hospital, Church Hill, Harbledown, Canterbury, Kent

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Overview

Stone wall, possibly late C11. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1336556
Date first listed:: 14-Mar-1980
List Entry Name:: Piece of wall belonging to the original St Nicholas's Hospital
Statutory Address:: St Nicholas's Hospital, Church Hill, Harbledown, Canterbury, Kent

Old stone wall — Uploaded by Kevin Back This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
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Date:: 2004-08-15
Reference:: IOE01/12794/02
Rights:: © Dr Martin Kane. Source: Historic England Archive

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1336556
Date first listed:: 14-Mar-1980
Date of most recent amendment:: 06-Jun-2014
List Entry Name:: Piece of wall belonging to the original St Nicholas's Hospital
Statutory Address 1:: St Nicholas's Hospital, Church Hill, Harbledown, Canterbury, Kent

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:: St Nicholas's Hospital, Church Hill, Harbledown, Canterbury, Kent

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Kent
District:: Canterbury (District Authority)
Parish:: Harbledown and Rough Common
National Grid Reference:: TR1302158189

Summary

Stone wall, possibly late C11.

Reasons for Designation

This piece of medieval wall at St Nicholas's Hospital is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Historic interest: part of the original St Nicholas's Hospital, England's earliest leprosy hospital founded by Archbishop Lanfranc c.1084; * Early date: a well-preserved section of medieval stone walling, possibly of late-C11 date; * Group value: with the other listed structures belonging to St Nicholas's Hospital.

History

This fragment of wall is all that remains of the domestic buildings of St Nicholas's Hospital – a leprosy hospital, probably the first in England, founded c.1084 by Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury 1070-89, and in operation until the end of the C14. Henry II visited St Nicholas's on his penitential journey to Canterbury in 1174. After c.1400 the hospital became an almshouse for the poor; it was recorded to have had sixty places for poor men and women in 1562. The foundation was reconstituted in 1565, and the domestic ranges were rebuilt in 1685 and again in 1840. It is still an almshouse today, for retired people.

At least 350 religious houses and hospitals for the care of people affected by leprosy (historically known as leper or lazar houses) were established In England between the close of the C11 and 1350. Many have disappeared, destroyed during the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s or simply decayed. Some remain, however – including this one, the oldest; St Mary Magdalen at Stourbridge near Cambridge; St Mary Magdalen in Sprowston, Norwich; and the hospital of St Mary the Virgin, IIford. Others survive as ruins or archaeological sites.

Leprosy, known today as Hansen's disease, had entered England by the C4 and was endemic by 1050. Leprosy houses were usually built on the edge of towns and cities or, if they were in rural areas, near to crossroads or major travel routes – such as this one, on the Canterbury-London road. They needed to retain contact with society to beg alms, trade and offer services such as prayers for the souls of benefactors. There was high demand for places and 'leprous brothers and sisters' were often accepted fully into the monastic order of the house. Most houses had their own chapel and rituals for prayer and singing went on throughout the day.

Many people affected by leprosy retained contact with their family and friends, being allowed to make visits home and to receive visitors. Attitudes began to change in the C14, particularly after the horrors of the Black Death (1347-1350), as fear of contagion led to greater restriction and isolation. However by this time leprosy was in retreat – possibly due to greater immunity in the population – and many houses fell into disuse or were put to new uses, often becoming almshouses for the sick and disabled poor.

Details

Stone wall, possibly late C11, of ragstone rubble with later red-brick infilling.

This list entry was subject to a Minor Enhancement on 12 Sepember 2022 to amend the description.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: 171164
Legacy System:: LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Ingram Hill, Derek, Lyle, Marjorie, The Ancient Almshouses and Hospitals of Canterbury, (2004)
Knowles, D, Hadcock, R. N, Medieval Religious Houses in England and Wales, (1971), 275
Websites
Disability in Time and Place, accessed from http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/content/imported-docs/a-e/disability-in-time-and-place.pdf
National Church Institutions Database of Manuscripts and Archives, accessed from http://archives.lambethpalacelibrary.org.uk
Other
'Hospitals: Harbledown', A History of the County of Kent: Volume 2 (1926), pp. 219-220.,

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.