Leper Stone

The Leper Stone or Newport Stone (grid reference TL520349) is a large sarsen stone near the village of Newport, Essex. The name Leper Stone probably derives from the hospital of St. Mary and St. Leonard (fn. 1156?), a nearby hospital for lepers. Passers by could have left offerings of alms for the hospital residents in a small depression atop the stone; the hospital grounds were sold in the sixteenth century, and only a portion of the wall near the stone remains.

Leper Stone

The Leper Stone or Newport Stone (grid reference TL520349) is a large sarsen stone near the village of Newport, Essex. The name Leper Stone probably derives from the hospital of St. Mary and St. Leonard (fn. 1156?), a nearby hospital for lepers. Passers by could have left offerings of alms for the hospital residents in a small depression atop the stone; the hospital grounds were sold in the sixteenth century, and only a portion of the wall near the stone remains.