University of Winchester - Middle Ages medical first

Archaelologists may have uncovered evidence of Britain's earliest known hospital. The University of Winchester's excavations at St Mary Magdalen, on the outskirts of the historic city, have revealed that burials at the site of a former leper hospital could date back to the 10th century. Simon Roffey, who has been directing the excavations with colleague Phil Marter, said that historically it has been assumed that the majority of hospitals were founded from the late 11th century onwards.