disease

Our current circumstances feel so unexpected, but until recently deadly infectious diseases were common in our UK communities. Various forms of isolation have been a common response, and the first of these were medieval hospitals for lepers. Indeed, our records show that John De Plyers made a grant of land in Parkstone to St. Margaret’s Hospital and Leper House in the thirteenth or fourteenth century.  By the seventeenth century ‘Pest Houses’ were often provided by parishes, landowners or boroughs and provided isolation and basic nursing.  Among other examples, Poole Borough Mayoral accounts of… Read more Disease, Isolation and Vaccines