Chapel
Royal of St James' Palace, formerly belonging to a House
of Female Lepers founded by the citizens of London.
One
of the most ancient leper hospitals in London was that dedicated
to St James, near Westminster, which is now St James' Palace.
According to medieval sources, this leper hospital was founded
in Saxon London (before the Norman conquest) for fourteen
leprous virgins. In the reign of Edward I this leper hospital
acquired lands in Hendon, Caldecot and Hampstead. The hospital
also was given the proceeds of a fair held for four days
from the Vigil of St James.
St
James Hospital continued until the Dissolution
of the monasteries. At the time it had income of £100
per annum. Henry VIII liked the situation of the leper hospital
so greatly, that he then built his own palace and great
park on the site, which must have had the original fourteen
leprous virgins turning over in their graves.
