St Nicholas Hospital, St Andrews
Monastery information | |
---|---|
Established | 12th century (uncertain) |
Disestablished | uncertain |
Dedicated to | St Andrews |
Grid reference | NO 5180 1595 |
St Nicholas Hospital was a
Leper house and poor house
The hospital lay on the lands of
The house functioned as a home for lepers until at least March 1438. It is referred to for the last time as a leper house in a document dating to 14 March 1438, but is called a "poor house" in another document dating to 12 May.
The hospital and its graveyard was located around the farm which became known as St Nicholas' farm (today a bed and breakfast with the dependent buildings converted into houses). The letter-book of James Haldenston, prior of St Andrews, reveals that the township was also called Liberton ("Leper toun").[1] The farmer at St Nicholas is said to have discovered 30 bodies in the vicinity of the farmhouse in the late 1950s.[6]
Modern excavations around St Nicholas farmhouse
Between November 1986 and March 1987 excavation took place in the area, prior to the construction of the East Sands Leisure Centre and
In February and March 1997 more excavations uncovered a wall of a large building with 16th-century green-glazed pottery, along with a smaller wall, perhaps coming from 16th- or 17th-century redevelopment.[11] Further archaeological activity in 1999, in advance of the construction of a nursery south of the Leisure Centre and south-west of the 1987 area, unearthed a cobbled road and bones from four humans who lived 1530 x 1310 BC, 130 x 390 AD, 430 x 650 AD, and 530 x 660 AD.[12]
Notes
- ^ a b Taylor, Place-Names, p. 529
- ^ a b Taylor, Place-Names, p. 528
- ^ Taylor, Place-Names, p. 528, n. 168
- ^ Taylor, Place-Names, pp. 528, 529
- ^ a b c Cowan and Easson, Medieval Religious Houses, p. 190
- ^ RCAHMS, "St Andrews, St Nicholas Farm"
- ^ Hall, "St Nicholas Farm", p. 14; Maloney, "St Nicholas Farm", p. 31; Proudfoot, "St Nicholas Farm", p. 17
- ^ Maloney, "St Nicholas Farm", p. 31
- ^ Proudfoot, "St Nicholas Farm", p. 21 and "St Andrews Interceptor Pipeline", pp. 20–21
- ^ Proudfoot, "St Nicholas Farm", p. 21
- ^ Stronach, "St Nicholas Farm", p. 41; Toolis, "St Nicholas Farm", p. 41
- ^ Hall, "St Nicholas Farm", p. 48
References
- St Andrews, St Nicholas Farm, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), retrieved 4 August 2010
- Cowan, Ian B.; Easson, David E. (1976), Medieval Religious Houses: Scotland With an Appendix on the Houses in the Isle of Man (2nd ed.), London and New York: Longman, ISBN 0-582-12069-1
- Hall, D. W. (1986), "St Nicholas Farm (St Andrews and St Leonards parish)", in Proudfoot, Edwina V. W.; Proudfoot, B. E. (eds.), Discovery and Excavation in Scotland, Council for British Archaeology, Scotland, p. 14, ISSN 0419-411X
- Hall, D (1999), "St Nicholas Farm (St Andrews and St Leonards parish)", in Turner, Robin (ed.), Discovery and Excavation in Scotland, Council for Scottish Archaeology, p. 48, ISSN 0419-411X
- Maloney, C. (1993), "St Nicholas Farm (St Andrews and St Leonards parish)", in Batey, Colleen E. (ed.), Discovery and Excavation in Scotland, Council for Scottish Archaeology, p. 31, ISSN 0419-411X
- Proudfoot, E. (1989), "St Nicholas Farm (St Andrews and St Leonards parish)", in Proudfoot, Edwina V. W.; Innes, Mary (eds.), Discovery and Excavation in Scotland, Council for Scottish Archaeology, p. 17, ISSN 0419-411X
- Proudfoot, E. (1994), "St Andrews Interceptor Pipeline (St Andrews and St Leonards parish)", in Proudfoot, Edwina V. W.; Innes, Mary (eds.), Discovery and Excavation in Scotland, Council for Scottish Archaeology, pp. 20–21, ISSN 0419-411X
- Proudfoot, E. (1994), "St Nicholas Farm (St Andrews and St Leonards parish)", in Proudfoot, Edwina V. W.; Innes, Mary (eds.), Discovery and Excavation in Scotland, Council for Scottish Archaeology, p. 21, ISSN 0419-411X
- Stronach, S (1997), "St Nicholas Farm (St Andrews and St Leonards parish)", in Turner, Robin (ed.), Discovery and Excavation in Scotland, Council for Scottish Archaeology, p. 41, ISSN 0419-411X
- Taylor, Simon (2009), The Place-Names of Fife, Volume Three: St Andrews and the East Neuk, The Place-Names of Fife (5 vols.), Donington: Shaun Tyas, ISBN 1-900289-97-0
- Toolis, R. (1997), "St Nicholas Farm (St Andrews and St Leonards parish)", in Turner, Robin (ed.), Discovery and Excavation in Scotland, Council for Scottish Archaeology, p. 41, ISSN 0419-411X