Leper Chapel, Cambridge
Encyclopedia
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, also currently known as the Leper Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene, lies on the east side of Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, off Newmarket Road
Newmarket Road, Cambridge
Newmarket Road is an arterial road in the east of Cambridge, England. It is designated the A1134 at the western end, linked by a roundabout forming a junction with Barnwell Road to the south. The eastern end links with the city's inner ring road at another roundabout, with Elizabeth Way to the...
just after crossing over the railway line at Barnwell Junction. It dates from about 1125.
The Leper Chapel was part of the buildings of a leprosy
Leprosy
Leprosy or Hansen's disease is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Named after physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions...
hospital which stood a little beyond the outskirts of the city on the road to Bury St. Edmunds
Bury St. Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds is a market town in the county of Suffolk, England, and formerly the county town of West Suffolk. It is the main town in the borough of St Edmundsbury and known for the ruined abbey near the town centre...
. Parts of the east wall (right) are original, but most of the rest of the chapel was rebuilt in the 13th century, although it still retains many Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
features.
In 1199 the chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
was given royal dispensation by King John
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
to hold a three day fair in order to raise money to support the lepers. Starting in 1211, the fair took place around the Feast of the Holy Cross
Feast of the Cross
In the Christian liturgical calendar, there are several different Feasts of the Cross, all of which commemorate the cross used in the crucifixion of Jesus....
(14 September) on Stourbridge Common which lies a little way behind the chapel and continues down to the River Cam.
Stourbridge fair
Stourbridge fair
Stourbridge fair was an annual fair held on Stourbridge Common in Cambridge, England. At its peak it was the largest fair in Europe and was the inspiration for Bunyan's "Vanity Fair"....
grew to become the largest Medieval fair
Fair
A fair or fayre is a gathering of people to display or trade produce or other goods, to parade or display animals and often to enjoy associated carnival or funfair entertainment. It is normally of the essence of a fair that it is temporary; some last only an afternoon while others may ten weeks. ...
in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and raised so much money that the post of priest at the Leper Chapel became one of the most lucrative jobs in the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. The job was also a sinecure
Sinecure
A sinecure means an office that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service...
, since the leper hospital had ceased to admit new lepers in 1279, and what few lepers remained were moved to a new colony near Ely
Ely, Cambridgeshire
Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England, 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about by road from London. It is built on a Lower Greensand island, which at a maximum elevation of is the highest land in the Fens...
. The chapel had no parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
, so there was no need to maintain any religious services. Under legislation of 1546, the chapel was closed and its property assumed by the Crown. Town and University battled over the rights to the Fair until Queen Elizabeth I ruled in favour of the town, reserving the University's rights to control weights, measures and quality of goods. The chapel was thence used only to store the stalls for the next fair and, in the eighteenth century at least, as a pub during the Fair. After 1751, there were no further religious services held at the chapel. In 1783 it was advertised for sale as a storage shed. The fair was abolished in 1933, though it was later revived in the 21st Century and is now held annually at the Leper Chapel.
In 1816, the Chapel was bought and restored by Thomas Kerrich
Thomas Kerrich
Thomas Kerrich was a clergyman, principal Cambridge University librarian , antiquary, draughtsman and gifted amateur artist. He created one of the first catalogue raisonnés ....
. Kerrich gave the Chapel to the University, that in turn gave it to the Cambridge Preservation Society in 1951.
The Chapel is currently maintained by the Cambridge Preservation Society. It is again being used for worship and it is now part of the Parish of Christ the Redeemer. The "Friends of the Leper Chapel" was formed in 1999 to promote use of this chapel for education, cultural events and worship. The Chapel also plays host to a range of local cultural activities such as dramatic performances and it is frequently used by the well renowned local theatre group In Situ for their performances of Shakespeare.
See also
- St Bene't's ChurchSt Bene't's ChurchSt Bene't's is an Anglican church in central Cambridge, England, noted for its Anglo-Saxon tower. The church is on the south side of Bene't Street adjacent to Corpus Christi College. Bene't is a contraction of Benedict, hence the unusual apostrophe in the name...
, dating from 1033 - School of PythagorasSchool of PythagorasThe School of Pythagoras is the oldest building in St John's College, Cambridge, and the oldest secular building in Cambridge, England. To the north is Northampton Street....
, dating from around 1200
External links
- Barnwell Leper Chapel by the Cambridge Preservation Society, with contact details for visiting the chapel.