Susan Yates, chair of Thurrock Historical Society ventures out side the borough in the her latest tale of reminiscences from the past - and finds that an often deadly disease that affected many lives is not so far back in the annals of history.

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LIKE most people getting bored during lockdown I have been keeping busy. In fact I am sure after all the tidying up I will probably never find some of the things I have put away safe.

People are starting to feel sorry for themselves being locked in, especially those who live alone and those who long to hug their grandchildren.

This made me think of those poor people who were interned in Spinalonga. This is an island off Elounda on the coast of Crete and was a leper colony. They were there for life. Up until very recently, 1982 in fact, leprosy was considered highly contagious and incurable and when people were found to have the disease they were shipped off to colonies for the rest of their lives never seeing their families again.

If they had children while there the children were taken from them and brought back to their family on the mainland.

I had always thought leprosy was something that was around in biblical times and had not realised that it was not until 1982 that treatment was available. About 95 per cent of people who get it do not get the full blown disease. Like Covid-19 it is spread by coughing or sneezing but unlike Covid-19 it requires prolonged contact with an infected person.

About a year ago a friend of mine took me to a leper cemetery at Bicknacre (just south of Chelmsford) with graves there dating from as recently as 2012. It was very sad the people had died from leprosy in St Giles Leper Colony which was two hundred yards away in the other side of the road. (St. Giles was the patron saint of lepers).

Known as The Hospital & Homes of St. Giles at Bicknacre it was founded in 1914 by a community of Church of England monks and the Sisters of St Giles specifically for the care and treatment of leprosy. The buildings that housed the lepers were nothing remarkable but it is thought to be unique for a leper hospital to be built in the 20th century making this a site of historical significance.

The cemetery with the St Giles mortuary chapel was created where patients who had died of leprosy were buried as well as the nuns who looked after them. In the centre of the cemetery is a small wooden Chapel used for burial services.

We were told by a gentleman tending the graveyard that the Chapel was said to be haunted, apparently by a man whose remains were interred in the graveyard. He didn't know the man's name but told us that several people claimed to have seen or heard him banging on the chapel door!

This quiet remote spot is now an Essex Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve.

After leaving, it seemed only right we visited the ruins of Bicknacre Priory. The Priory, known originally as Wodenham Abbey, was founded in 1172 by the Order of Black Canons (Augustinians).

It was built on the site of a small hermitage. It consisted of a tower, forming the central point a nave, a chancel with north and south transepts forming the shape of the cross and was made of local iron puddingstone with some brick and Roman tiles, with imported stone from Reigate.

All that now remains of this once impressive building is the western arch of the central tower. Between 1250 and 1450 the Priory was maintained by donations of land and rent from properties. It owned 30 houses, the church at Woodham Ferrers, the Manor of Bicknacre and many acres of farmland meadow pasture and woodland.

After Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries in 1536, it fell into ruin. Much of the masonry was taken and used to repair to local roads and houses. By 1812, only the existing arch remained.

The leper cemetery had such a profound effect on me that I also visited St Giles Leper Hospital at Maldon, the ruins of which are open to the public on appointment from the local council.

This is Maldon's only Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Situated in Spital Road it is one of Maldon's best kept archaeological secrets. The chapel was founded to provide services to the lepers and became a general hospital for the poor and infirm.

It was founded by Henry II in the twelfth century, circa 1164, for the relief of the inhabitants of Maldon suffering from leprosy, then a common disease throughout Europe. It was granted to Beeleigh Abbey in 1481 by Edward IV together with 90 acres of land.

Following the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII it served as part of a barn at Spital Farm until roughly 1910 when the roof collapsed. In 1913 the barn was pulled down and revealed the remains of the leper hospital. The ruins were in a very poor state when they were purchased by a Mr.Thomas of Beeleigh Abbey in 1925.

He promptly presented the site to Maldon District Council who completed restoration work on the site in 1927.

Spital Road takes its name from the Leper Hospital. The word hospital comes from the word hospitality. In ancient cultures hospitality involved welcoming strangers and offering them food, shelter, and safety.

In medieval times travellers would stay overnight in Monasteries and hospitality was an integral part of medieval monastic life. In receiving guests the monks were following Christ's injunction and adhering to the Rule of St Benedict.