Site of post-medieval farm, Hospital Farm (EHER 1938)

The 2nd edition OS 1:2500 map (1897) shows Hospital Farm, with the site of St Leonard's Hospital marked in a field immediately to the north.

2nd edition OS 1:2500 map (1897) shows Hospital Farm, with the site of St Leonard's Hospital marked in a field immediately to the north. However, there is no reason to suppose that the position of the cross (on the map) is anything more than what was traditionally the area of the hospital, as preserved by the name 'Hospital Farm'. On the map, the farmhouse shows as almost an H-plan, with cross-wings at each end. This is typically late medieval, though it could have been built when the hospital was dissolved in 1534. The farmhouse was demolished in 1907 and it seems that it had old materials in its fabric, implying that it reused or incorporated part of the hospital. Demolition debris from the house was found on excavations on the site of the partly demolished glass houses in 1985. However, there seems to be no realistic way of assessing the position of the farmhouse to the hospital, or whether it was built of materials from the hospital, though there is no doubt that the hospital site is in the area. <1> - <5>