Burton Lazars, Leicestershire : the evidence from the worked stone collection

Abstract

The small village of Burton Lazars in Leicestershire takes its name from its most significant historic feature, the medieval hospital of the Knights of St Lazarus, but in common with many other monastic sites in Britain, radical clearance since the dissolution of religious houses in the 16th century has removed any material evidence for it. The site is represented by enigmatic, and largely unexcavated, mounds in a field on the edge of the village, its buildings have totally disappeared and it is difficult now to get a sense of what the site looked like in the medieval period.1 The discovery of a number of worked stones in a garden close to the hospital site in the recent past has provided us with the chance to evaluate its appearance, at least in part.