The Leper Chapel was originally part of a leprosy hospital which stood just outside the city. To raise money to support the lepers, the chapel started Stourbridge Fair on the adjoining common. This grew to be the largest Medieval Fair in Europe, which became a moneymaking venture for the Church and town after the last lepers moved out in the late 13th Century. The fair attracted people such as Isaac Newton, who is believed to have bought there the prisms he used for his famous optics experiments. At one point the Chapel was even used as a pub for the duration of the fair! Whereas the fair died out in the 20th Century, a much smaller re-creation is now held annually outside the Chapel.
Before you search for the cache, do have a look at the following:
- The noticeboard outside gives dates when the chapel is open and hosting events, everything from worship to drama performances. If the chapel is locked, as is usual, but you want to see inside, the board tells you how to borrow the key.
- The semi-circular arches and thick walls of the Chapel are key features of Romanesque (Norman) architecture, and pre-date the Gothic style which we associate with many of our most famous churches and cathedrals.
- The surrounding street names on your map are evidence of the old fair - Oyster Row, Garlic Row and Mercers Row.
The cache is a home-made cache of size Small in a camo bag in the chapel grounds. Please be extremely careful with it as it is delicate. Tiny swaps only.
Cache placed with kind permission of Cambridge Past Present and Future.
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For full information on how you can expand the Church Micro series by sadexploration please read the Place your own Church Micro page before you contact him at churchmicro@gmail.com.
See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
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