THE KNIGHTS OF ST LAZARUS
IN LEICESTERSHIRE
The Order of St. Lazarus, a medieval crusading order, had a significant presence in England, particularly around Leicestershire. Their main English house was located at Burton Lazars, near Melton Mowbray, which was a leper hospital founded in the 12th century
TILTON-ON-THE-HILL
The hospital at Tilton was given to that at Burton Lazars by William Burdet before 1184.
A Leper hospital was founded at Tilton before 1189 and was annexed to Burton Lazars in the same county. Site not ascertained. However two possible locations are muted in the small village, the first is a recorded medival moated site, next to a dammed Medieval fish pond, the second is possibly where the Manor farm house now is situated - with evidence of a fish pond once on the lands, visable on lidar, and also an outbuilding still standing, known locally as "the chapel" which could have once been a fragment of the small monastic hospital.
Head over to our blog site by clicking here to see more about Tilton on the Hill
BURTON LAZARS - Lands & St James Church
Burton Lazars: Home of the Leper Knights
Nestled just two kilometres south of Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, the peaceful village of Burton Lazars holds the remnants of a once powerful and sacred site — the principal English hospital of the Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem.
Who Were the Order of St. Lazarus?
Known as the "Leper Knights," the Order of St. Lazarus was a unique monastic and military order, founded during the Crusades with a dual mission: caring for those suffering from leprosy and defending the Christian faith. Unlike other knightly orders, the Lazarites were renowned for offering refuge and medical care to lepers — including among their own ranks.
The Foundation of Burton Lazars
Founded between 1138 and 1162 by Robert de Mowbray, Burton Lazars became the most important leper hospital in medieval England. The site served not only as a refuge for the sick but also as the administrative centre for the Order’s English holdings, overseeing other houses across the country. This made Burton Lazars a key hub for both medical care and the Order’s strategic operations during and after the Crusades.
The Site Today
The remains of the medieval hospital complex still lie in the fields west of the village. Now a Scheduled Ancient Monument, the site includes:
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Moated enclosures and a series of fishponds — believed to have been used for curative bathing.
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Earthworks outlining the former chapel, infirmary, cloister, and main preceptory buildings.
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A naturally occurring sulphurous spring, possibly used in the treatment of leprosy.
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Remnants of what may have been a gatehouse and a bell tower.
Excavations, including those in 1913 by Charles Lindsay and the Duke of Rutland, revealed significant structural remains such as tile kilns, paving, and carved stonework. The site's layout and complexity confirm Burton Lazars’ status as a large and sophisticated medical institution of its time.
Legacy and Relics
Although the hospital was damaged by fire in the 14th century and finally dissolved in 1546, its legacy survives in both the landscape and the local church.
Adjacent to the hospital site, St James' Church, while not directly linked, houses several artefacts thought to originate from the leper hospital. These include:
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Fragments of Norman architecture, such as octagonal columns once believed to have lined the hospital chapel, richly decorated with maple leaves and fleurons — compared by some to the famous Apprentice Pillar in Rosslyn Chapel.
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A poignant stone corbel known as Roger the Leper, dating to the mid-13th century. It depicts a man with facial features distorted by advanced leprosy — a haunting yet compassionate reminder of those the Order served.
Visiting the Site
Today, the site of Burton Lazars lies on private farmland. While the earthworks are still visible, visitors are encouraged to seek permission before exploring. Though the buildings are gone, the site remains a place of historical importance and quiet reflection — a testament to an order of knights who chose compassion over
conquest.
Dugdale writes about Burton Lazars in his Monasticon Anglicanum (1655–1673)
" Roger Mowbray, in the time of King Stephen, giving two caracutes of land, a house, Mill, (sic) to the Lepers of St Lazarus, without the walls of Hierusalem, laid the foundations of a well endowed Hospital, consisting of a master and Eight sound, as well as several poor leprous bretheren, which was the chief of all spittles or Lazare Houses in England, but dependant upon the great house at Heirusalam"
St James Church, Burton Lazars. - Effigy Roger Beler Patron of the Order
Adjacent to the former hospital site stands the Church of St James, a later parish church not officially connected to the hospital — yet it holds tangible links to the lost medieval complex.
Within its walls are stone fragments and carvings believed to have come from the original chapel at Burton Lazars. Among the most striking is a carved stone corbel known affectionately as “Roger the Leper.” This mid-13th century figure is depicted with sunken eyes, a collapsed nasal bridge, and an open mouth, characteristic of advanced leprosy. It is a rare, haunting, and compassionate portrayal of someone who may have lived — or been treated — within the walls of the hospital.
Also found at the church are octagonal columns and foliated carvings resembling the ornate style seen at sites like Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland. Historian David Marcombe, in his book Leper Knights, notes these flourishes may once have lined the hospital chapel, reflecting the Order’s considerable resources and cultural ambition
LOWESBY - All Saints Church
The Burdet family founded Loseby parish church and generously granted its advowson to the Order of St Lazarus, based at nearby Burton Lazars, supporting the Order for many generations. Around 1290, however, tensions arose when the Order began claiming a portion of the parish’s tithes. Over the following years, disputes escalated into riots, the parish vicar was excommunicated, and in 1297, William Burdet’s actions reportedly “polluted” the churchyard with bloodshed. Eventually, order was restored: in 1298, Sir William Burdet funded the reconsecration of the church and reaffirmed his family’s earlier grants to the Order. Despite this resolution, the relationship between the Burdets and the Order would never fully recover.
Melton Mowbray - The Anne of Cleves Inn:
Tucked in the heart of the historic market town of Melton Mowbray, the Anne of Cleves Inn is far more than a charming, family-run pub—it’s a rare surviving remnant of one of medieval England’s most extraordinary orders: the Knights of St Lazarus, also known as the Leper Knights.
Less than two miles away lies the village of Burton Lazars, once home to the grand leper hospital and headquarters of the Order of St Lazarus in England. Founded in the 12th century by Roger de Mowbray, a crusading nobleman, the hospital at Burton Lazars became a centre of care for those suffering from leprosy—a feared and misunderstood disease at the time. The Leper Knights, members of the Order of St Lazarus, were dedicated not only to military and religious duties but also to caring for society’s most vulnerable.
In 1384, what is now the Anne of Cleves Inn began its life as an important manor house for the order. It served as the residence for fourteen chantry priests who ministered to the lepers at the hospital nearby. This building was part of a broader spiritual mission, as the priests offered prayers and administered the sacraments for both the living and the dead—a vital part of medieval Christian practice.
Today, the Anne of Cleves Inn retains the warm character of its medieval origins while offering the comforts of modern hospitality. With its exposed oak beams, historic stonework, and inviting atmosphere, the inn provides a unique opportunity to dine and relax in a setting steeped in centuries of history. Whether you're enjoying a local ale by the fireplace or exploring the town’s rich heritage, you are walking in the footsteps of knights, priests, and pilgrims who shaped this corner of Leicestershire.
A visit to the Anne of Cleves is not just a trip to the pub—it’s a journey back through time, where medieval faith, service, and community spirit are still quietly echoed in its walls.
MELTON MOWBRAY - 'The Mount'
The medieval earthwork known as The Mount stands at Mount Pleasant, Melton Mowbray, close to the River Eye and a short distance from Burton Lazars, the chief English house of the Order of St Lazarus.
The Mount is recorded as a medieval motte, a raised earthwork likely created in the Norman period. By 1364, it had been granted to the Hospital of St Lazarus at Burton Lazars. The surviving summary of the record does not clearly name the donor, so the safest conclusion is that the Order held the site by grant, but the giver is presently uncertain.
There is no evidence that The Mount was itself a Lazarite hospital, chapel, or preceptory. Instead, it appears to have been a small estate holding attached to Burton Lazars. A 1364 reference mentions the cutting down of trees on the mound, suggesting that the Order used or managed the site for practical purposes, probably including timber, land management, or income for the hospital.
Its position near Melton Mowbray and close to Burton Lazars made it a useful local possession within the wider Lazarite estate network. The Order’s main charitable and religious work remained centred at Burton Lazars, while The Mount was likely one of the smaller properties supporting that house.
Today, The Mount survives as an earthwork at Mount Pleasant, Melton Mowbray. It is protected as a Scheduled Monument, although no buildings associated with the Order of St Lazarus survive there. Its importance lies in its medieval origin and its documented connection with Burton Lazars in the 14th century.
GREAT DALBY
The Order of St Lazarus and Great Dalby
Great Dalby, a medieval village in Leicestershire, lay within the sphere of influence of Order of Saint Lazarus, whose English headquarters was at nearby Burton Lazars.
Founded in the 12th century, the Order was dedicated to the care of lepers and supported through a network of scattered lands and rents rather than large estates.
What did the Order hold in Great Dalby?
Evidence from the Valor Ecclesiasticus shows that Burton Lazars received income from Great Dalby, recorded as:
“De redditu in Dalby Magna…”
(“From rent in Great Dalby…”)
This indicates that:
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The Order did not own the manor
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Instead, it received a fixed annual rent from land in the village
Who gave this land—and when?
The original grant is not recorded by name, but it was almost certainly:
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Given between c. 1150–1250
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Donated by a local freeholder or minor landowner
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Intended as a pious endowment to support the hospital at Burton Lazars
The land itself remained in private hands, but the rent became a permanent obligation attached to it.
After the Dissolution
When the Order was dissolved in 1544, its income—including the Great Dalby rent—passed to the Crown and was later absorbed into local estates. The original holding has not yet been identified, but the rent likely continued under new ownership.
What remains today?
No visible Lazarite property survives in Great Dalby. However:
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The site of Burton Lazars still exists as earthworks
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Great Dalby retains its medieval layout and church
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The connection survives in historical records rather than buildings
Summary
Great Dalby’s link to the Order of St Lazarus was small but significant:
a single medieval rent, granted by a local landholder, which supported one of England’s most important leper hospitals for centuries.
KNIGHTON - Lands
The Order of St Lazarus, via the Hospital/Preceptory of Burton Lazars, had a small rent or estate income in Knighton, but there is no clear evidence of a Lazarite hospital, commandery, chapel, or resident community at Knighton itself.
GAULBY
Queniborough
Queniborough had a documented medieval connection with the Order of St Lazarus through the nearby hospital of Burton Lazars, the Order’s chief English house.
The evidence does not suggest that Queniborough contained a Lazarite hospital, chapel, preceptory, or commandery. Instead, the link appears to have been through income-producing property, most likely land, rents, or tenements held for the benefit of Burton Lazars.
By 1361, the Order’s holdings in Burton, Melton Mowbray and Queniborough were recognised together for feudal purposes, showing that Queniborough formed part of the wider estate network supporting the Lazarite house. Later, in the Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535, Burton St Lazarus was recorded as receiving £1 14s 9d annually from Queniborough.
This was a modest but regular income. In modern purchasing-power terms it may roughly equate to around £1,300–£1,500 per year, though such conversions are only approximate. More importantly, the payment shows that Queniborough continued to contribute financially to Burton Lazars on the eve of the Dissolution.
The precise nature and location of the Queniborough holding are not yet clear from the surviving summaries. It may have consisted of small parcels of land, house-plots, farm rents, or other fixed payments. Without a record naming a messuage, chapel, manor, or hospital, it is safest to describe the Queniborough link as an estate and revenue connection, rather than a physical Lazarite site.
Queniborough therefore formed one of the smaller local holdings that helped sustain the religious and charitable work of the Order of St Lazarus at Burton Lazars.
WYCOMB
Wycomb, a small medieval hamlet near Scalford and Chadwell in Leicestershire, was linked to the Order of St Lazarusthrough the Order’s principal English house at Burton Lazars, near Melton Mowbray.
The connection appears to have been financial rather than residential. There is no evidence that Wycomb contained a Lazarite hospital, chapel, preceptory, or resident brethren. Instead, Wycomb formed part of the wider estate network which supported the Hospital of Burton St Lazarus. These lands and rents helped fund the Order’s religious and charitable work, including the care of lepers and the maintenance of its hospital community.
By the time of the Valor Ecclesiasticus in 1535, Wycomb was recorded as producing £1 8s 4d per year for Burton Lazars. This was a modest but useful annual income, probably drawn from rents, land, or small tenant holdings within the hamlet.
Although little visible evidence of the Order survives at Wycomb today, its inclusion among the possessions of Burton Lazars shows how even small Leicestershire settlements contributed to the wider economy of the medieval Order of St Lazarus. Wycomb’s importance lay not in a major religious building, but in the quiet financial support it gave to one of England’s most significant Lazarite foundations.
STATHERN
COLD NEWTON
The medieval village of Newton Burdett, now known as Cold Newton in Leicestershire, formed part of the network of estates and rents that supported the Order of St Lazarus in England. The village appears in the Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535 among the properties belonging to Burton Lazars, the Order's English headquarters near Melton Mowbray.
A Gift to the Lazarites
The Order of St Lazarus established its principal English house at Burton Lazars in the twelfth century. Like many religious and military orders, it depended upon gifts of land and rents from local landowners. Newton Burdett almost certainly entered the Order's possession through such a donation, probably between the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, when benefactions to crusading and hospital orders were at their height. The village itself took its medieval name from the Burdet family, who held the manor after the Norman Conquest.
Although the original charter has not yet been identified, the appearance of Newton Burdett in the Burton Lazars estate accounts demonstrates that the Order retained an income-producing interest there for several centuries.
What Did the Order Hold?
The Valor Ecclesiasticus records income from "Newton Burdett" under the heading:
"Rents and farms of tenants in various lordships and manors."
This suggests that the Order received rents from land and tenants within the village rather than necessarily owning the entire manor. The holding may have consisted of arable land, meadow, pasture, and tenant farms whose rents were paid to Burton Lazars. Such scattered estates were typical of the Order's English possessions.
The value recorded for Newton Burdett was one of the more significant rents within the local Burton Lazars estate group, indicating that the Lazarites possessed more than a token interest in the village.
Medieval Newton Burdett
During the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries Newton Burdett was a functioning manorial village. Archaeological remains reveal a settlement of house platforms, paddocks, hollow ways, and a substantial moated manorial site. The village supported a farming community that worked the surrounding open fields and pastures.
The population was modest but stable. Domesday Book records eleven households in 1086, while thirty-eight taxpayers were recorded in 1377.
Those living in Newton Burdett would have included:
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The lord of the manor and his household.
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Tenant farmers and labourers.
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Local craftsmen and servants.
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Clergy serving the parish church.
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Tenants whose rents contributed to the revenues of Burton Lazars.
There is no evidence that Lazarite brethren lived permanently at Newton Burdett or that the Order maintained a hospital there. Instead, the village appears to have been one of many communities whose rents helped support the hospital and religious house at Burton Lazars.
What Remains Today?
The medieval village largely disappeared after enclosure and changes in agricultural practice during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Today Cold Newton survives as a small hamlet, while the site of the medieval settlement is preserved as a Scheduled Monument. Extensive earthworks, including the moated manor site, former streets, house platforms and field boundaries, remain visible in the landscape.
Although the exact lands held by the Order of St Lazarus at Newton Burdett have yet to be identified, the surviving records show that for centuries the village contributed to the support of one of medieval England's most important military-hospitaller orders.
KIMCOTE
THORPE SATCHVILLE -
KIRBY BELLARS - St Peters Church
The medieval church of St Peter at Kirby Bellars formed part of an important 14th-century religious landscape created by Sir Roger Beler, a prominent local landholder and royal official.
In 1316, Beler founded a chantry chapel at Kirby Bellars, dedicated to St Peter, for the daily celebration of Mass and prayers for his soul, his family, heirs and ancestors. In 1319, this foundation was enlarged into a collegiate chapel, served by a warden and twelve perpetual chaplains. The parish church was appropriated to the college, meaning that its income and spiritual responsibilities became closely tied to Beler’s religious foundation.
The link with the Order of St Lazarus came through Burton Lazars, the Order’s principal English house, situated only a short distance from Kirby Bellars. Under Beler’s arrangements, the master of the leper hospital at Burton Lazars was given the right to present one of the twelve chaplains serving the collegiate chapel.
This did not mean that St Peter’s was owned by the Order of St Lazarus, nor that Kirby Bellars was a Lazarite preceptory or hospital. Rather, Burton Lazars held a formal patronage role within Beler’s foundation. This placed the Order alongside other respected religious institutions connected with the college, including the Bishop of Lincoln, the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln, the Hospitallers at Melton, and the Abbot of Croxton.
The arrangement shows the local importance and status of Burton Lazars in medieval Leicestershire. Its master was trusted as a spiritual patron, able to nominate a chaplain to serve within one of the county’s notable religious foundations.
In 1359–60, the collegiate chapel became an Augustinian priory, which survived until the Dissolution in 1536. Today, St Peter’s Church remains a medieval parish church, while earthworks north of the church mark the former priory site. Its connection with the Order of St Lazarus survives not through ownership, but through the Order’s recognised role in the religious patronage of Kirby Bellars.
OAKHAM (Castle) - Hugh Michael Master of the Order imprisoned here
Brother Hugh Michel: Imprisoned at Oakham Castle in 1339
On 20 June 1339, Brother Hugh Michel, Master of the Hospital of Burton St Lazarus, was recorded as being held prisoner at Oakham Castle in Rutland. His offence concerned “vert and venison”, the customary medieval legal expression for offences against the royal forest and its protected animals.
Hugh Michel was the head of the English house of the Order of St Lazarus at Burton Lazars in Leicestershire. As Master, he was a senior religious administrator responsible for the order’s brethren, hospitals, estates and dependent properties. His position, however, did not place him beyond the reach of royal law.
The offence of vert and venison
Under medieval forest law, vert referred to the trees, undergrowth and vegetation that provided shelter and food for the king’s deer. Offences against vert could include unlawfully cutting timber, clearing woodland or damaging protected vegetation.
Venison referred principally to protected game animals, especially deer. An offence might involve hunting, killing, carrying away or receiving venison taken from a royal forest.
The brief surviving entry does not explain exactly what Hugh Michel was accused of doing. He may have been suspected of taking deer, receiving unlawfully obtained venison, permitting others to hunt, sheltering offenders or allowing damage to protected woodland. It is therefore safer to describe the charge as a forest-law offence rather than to state that Hugh personally poached a deer.
The Close Roll summary records:
Brother Hugh Michel, Master of the Hospital of Burton St Lazarus, being imprisoned in Oakham Castle for vert and venison, had a writ to procure bail.
The writ did not amount to a pardon or acquittal. It authorised arrangements for Hugh’s release from custody after suitable sureties had been found. He would then have remained answerable to the royal forest authorities. No subsequent published record has yet been identified confirming whether he was convicted, fined or formally cleared.
Oakham Castle in the fourteenth century
Oakham Castle had been established during the later twelfth century by Walkelin de Ferrers, lord of Oakham. Its surviving Great Hall, constructed during the reign of Henry II, is one of the finest surviving examples of Norman domestic architecture in England.
In 1339 the castle was much larger than the single hall that survives today. It formed an enclosed administrative and judicial complex surrounded by substantial earthworks, walls and a gateway. The Great Hall was used for ceremonies, manorial business and the administration of justice.
A survey made in 1340, only about a year after Hugh Michel’s imprisonment, describes the castle as walled and containing:
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a hall;
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several chambers;
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a chapel;
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a kitchen;
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stables and agricultural buildings;
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a gatekeeper’s chamber;
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a drawbridge;
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and a separate “house for a prison.”
The wording used in the survey indicates that the medieval gaol was probably a distinct building within the castle enclosure, rather than an underground dungeon beneath the Great Hall.
Where was the medieval gaol?
The precise position of Oakham Castle’s fourteenth-century prison has not been conclusively established.
Its probable location was within the castle bailey, possibly near the principal gateway and the chamber occupied by the gatekeeper. This would have allowed prisoners to be brought into custody without passing through the main domestic buildings and would have placed them close to an officer responsible for guarding the entrance.
The prison recorded in 1340 should not automatically be identified with later cells associated with the Great Hall. Oakham continued to serve as a centre of justice for centuries, and its prison arrangements changed over time. A new county gaol was eventually constructed elsewhere in Oakham in 1810, with accommodation for up to ninety-six prisoners.
Imprisonment at Oakham
Medieval imprisonment was often used to hold an accused person until trial, payment, the finding of sureties or appearance before the appropriate court. It was not necessarily intended as the final punishment.
Hugh Michel may therefore have spent only a limited period inside Oakham’s prison house before bail was arranged. His status as Master of Burton Lazars may have helped him obtain reliable guarantors, but it did not prevent his arrest.
The conditions within the gaol are not recorded. A medieval prison house of this kind was likely to have contained one or more secure rooms with heavy doors, iron locks and restricted openings. Prisoners might depend upon friends, religious communities or servants for food, bedding and other necessities.
A revealing episode
Hugh Michel’s imprisonment provides a rare glimpse into the life of a senior member of the Order of St Lazarus. It shows that the master of an important religious institution could be arrested and confined within a county castle when accused of violating the king’s forest rights.
The episode also illustrates Oakham Castle’s wider purpose. It was not merely a lordly residence, but an administrative, judicial and custodial centre for Rutland. Its Great Hall survives, but the smaller buildings that once surrounded it—including the medieval prison in which Hugh Michel was held—have largely disappeared.
Although the final outcome of the forest charge remains unknown, Hugh was released or expected to be released on bail and continued to appear in records connected with the Order of St Lazarus. His later career, disputes within the order and eventual association with the Lazarite estate at Locko form a larger and more complex story.
