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Site of a leper hospital. The hospital is first mentioned in a charter of 1363 however a charter of 1333 refers to a 'montem hospitalis' although this may be a reference to a different hospital. It may well be the case that the leper hospital pre dated 1363 by a number of years, as leprosy first came to Scotland following the Crusades in the 12th and 13th century. Given Aberdeen's flourishing port and harbour leprosy may well have been transmitted to Aberdeen fairly quickly. There are only a few clues as to the nature of the hospital building itself from the extant documents. It was in need of repair in 1574 when the Privy Council ordered the Burgh Council to repair the building and 'caus the said hous be theikkit [thatched].' Also, in 1574 it was noted that the timber work of the building had been stolen. A charter issued by James VI in 1591 makes it clear that the prevailing conditions were still poor, the lepers the charter noted 'lief verie miserablie'. In 1604 the Burgh Council ordered that Helen Smyth be sent to the hospital and be given the keys of the building, possibly as a result of the repairs effected in the late sixteenth century. The next reference to a different building on the site is in 1519. In that year the Burgh Council ordered that a chapel dedicated to St Anne be erected. This was to be designed by Alexander Galloway, Rector of Kinkell. A distinguished canon and architect, he was partly responsible for the erection of the Bridge of Dee and the heraldic ceiling of St Machar's Cathedral. Little is known about this building, outside of the (above quoted) order for its erection. If built this would have been a significant local building. As late as 1574 the Privy Council noted that the leper hospital consisted of the hospital, buildings and yards. The other buildings referred to in both 1363 and 1574 may have had a variety of different uses. A number of stores or sheds may also have existed. Although a conjectural point it remains the case that any one who was sent there was entitled to take all of their moveable goods with them. Over the years this would result in an accumulation of goods. However by 1661 when Parson Gordon drew the first map of Aberdeen and wrote the accompanying Description of Both Touns he noted that the hospital was gone and few people remembered anything about it. Despite this the site was occupied by the lepers for the best part of three hundred years, probably more. This may well, especially in the earlier period, have been a dynamic site seeing a number of changes and a number of different buildings over time. Although leprosy begins to die out as a problem in seventeenth century many people who had diseases akin to leprosy would have been sent there. Also given that those with the disease were treated as unclean then it is reasonable to expect that the lepers disposed of their rubbish on their own site. This is probably the case for burials. Given three hundred years of occupation by lepers then a large amount of rubbish, detritus and a number of burials on this site may be expected. See also NJ90NW1024 for excavations in this area, and NJ90NW3017 for watching brief at 1 Mounthooly Way which recorded no archaeological features.
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Historic Environment Records (HER) 
Aberdeen City
HER -
NJ90NW0016 - KING'S CRESCENT, ABERDEEN