St. Leonard's Hospital

The ruins of Saint Leonard’s Hospital stand as a collection of dark limestone arches and thick walls tucked within the Museum Gardens. Founded in the eleventh century, this was once the largest infirmary in northern England. King Stephen provided the original endowment, but the hospital’s true life came from the brothers and sisters who cared for the city’s poor and sick here for centuries. Fire swept through the timber buildings in eleven thirty-seven, forcing the stone reconstruction that visitors see today.