Here is a further addition to my e-archive

 Stourbridge Leper Chapel

Set down in an inconspicuous hollow, just a few dozen feet from the edge of the busy dual-carriageway of Newmarket Road, lies Cambridge’s oldest surviving building. The Stourbridge Hospital for Lepers and its Chapel, dedicated to St Mary Magdalene was built sometime before 1150. During the Leprosy epidemics of the 13^th century the hospital flourished, but as leprosy declined the need grew less and the hospital was closed in 1279.

Only the dinky little one-storied Norman chapel now remains, the wooden hospital and leper huts surrounding it have long since fallen into disrepair and collapsed. The little chapel itself has come close to dereliction on a number of occasions in the past 700 years. In the 14^th century the vaulted roof collapsed and was replaced by voluntary labour. By 1606, it had ceased to be a chapel and passed into private ownership. During the 1750’s it was used as a barn and storage shed. In 1816 it was nigh on falling down when the first of four major restorations was begun. Once restored the Chapel became the property of the University of Cambridge. It was further restored in 1865, 1925 and 1951, when it passed into the hands of the Cambridge Preservation Society who continue to maintain and upkeep the building to the present day.

That this plain little chapel, contemporaneous with Chartres Cathedral, should survive intact through over 700 years may be partly due to its association with the famous Stourbridge Fair. In fact the original fair was founded by the Leper chapel, in 1211 the lepers were granted permission from King John to hold a 3 day fair in the grounds of the chapel. The date set was “The Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross”, the 14^th September.

In 1289, with the Leper Hospital closed, The Corporation of Cambridge took over the running of the fair, which spread rapidly, establishing itself as a major annual gathering. In 1516 Stourbridge Fair lasted from 24^th August until 29^th September. In 1725 it was one of the largest fairs in Europe, and had been name-checked by Daniel Defoe, John Bunyan and Samuel Pepys, amongst others.

However, in 1811 the fields on which the fair took place were enclosed, areas were sold off: the decline of Stourbridge Fair had begun. The riotous and bawdy atmosphere of the three week long fair had long incurred the wrath of the University who banned students from the Fair. Meanwhile the Victorian fashion for restraint further added to a decline in attendance, in 1933 the Stourbridge Fair closed drab with disinterest.

In 2004 the Friends of the Leper Chapel, a charity supporting the work of the Cambridge Preservation Society, revived the fair in the grounds of the Leper Chapel.
The revived Stourbridge Fair has taken place in September every year since.

Jean Dark
July 2005

Further information

Cambridge Spirit of Place – Nigel Pennick (2004)
Stourbridge Leper Chapel – Barry Pearce (2003)
Coldham’s Common & the Leper Chapel (guided history tour walk) – to reserve a place phone: Alan Brigham (01223) 212189

This coming week, 26^th September to 2^nd October 2011, is an exciting and important week for me. In Earth Pathways Diary 2011 the week is faced by an article I have written, Picking Brambles. If you’ve got a copy you can turn there now and check it out!

In accordance with the time of the year, the Wheel of the Year, the piece concerns folkloric, anecdotal and ecological ideas around the harvest of late fruiting wild Blackberries.

The publication of this piece marks a significant milestone in my personal journey, one spanning over seven years, stretching back from now, autumn 2011 to spring 2004 when a version of Picking Blackberries was first published. Back to 2004 and beyond, in both directions.

The Free Pagan Press, who first printed Picking Blackberries, was edited by Dill & Pete Ravell, it was a small independent quarterly. Small press publications have always been a great passion of mine, particularly magazines and pamphlets. This passion is all the more driven in the current cultural environment where I hear on a regular basis of independent magazines, small publishers, alternative bookshops, and distributors going bust.

Or they become e-zines – tiny exquisite crafts lost forever in the information overload/content lite becalmed oceans of cyberspace.

The Free Pagan Press sub-titled itself “The Magazine for Open Paganism”. This ticked many of the boxes for me, so I wrote Picking Blackberries and posted it to Dill (hardcopy A4 double-spaced, in an envelope, with a stamp, in a pillar box).

I was delighted when my complimentary copy dropped through my letterbox, pleased to have my writing appear in such a lovely little ‘zine. In fact the Spring 2004, Free Pagan Press issue 15 was the last paper version of the magazine.

There are still a few small independent pagan ‘zines going, Deosil Dance, Northern Earth, Hedgewytch and The Cauldron come to mind, but the pool is becoming ever smaller.

In 2009 Silver Wheel Magazine, another small press magazine which had been publishing quarterly since the 1986, changed its format to an annual Journal. Although it was sad to see another independent magazine fold, the new book format opened the opportunity for longer, more considered and advanced articles on British Witchcraft Traditions to be published. The Author & Editor, Anna Franklin included a version of Picking Blackberries in the first volume. Silver Wheel Journal has gone from strength to strength. This year’s volume, the third, is better than ever, including articles by Nigel Pennick, Emma Restall-Orr, Sorita d’Este, Kristoffer Hughes and Michael Howard. The stunning colour cover depicts a blazing horned wicker man raising up his arms to a fat full moon. This is made all the more poignantly beautiful as it was the last work of Artist and Photographer Paul Mason, who died unexpectedly earlier this year. The loss of an artist is a greater loss to the world.

In March 2010 an edited version Picking Brambles was selected for inclusion in the inspiring Moonshare Collective’s Earth Pathways Diary 2011, with Glennie Kindred, Jaine Rose, Hannah Willow and Suzi Goose as fellow contributors. It is this version that appears facing 26^th September to 2^nd October. This week, in fact.

Jean Dark
September 2011

Websites
Earth Pathways Diary
Silver Wheel Journal
The 2012 Earth Pathways Diary, which also features Jean Dark, is available from
Libra Aries Books