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All the United Kingdom England Bedale Bedale Leech House

Bedale Leech House

The only surviving leech house in the United Kingdom was a home for bloodsucking worms until the 1900s.

Bedale, England

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Michael Inscoe
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Bedale Leech House.   Mike Kirby/CC BY-SA 2.0
Bedale Leech House.   Mike Kirby/CC BY-SA 2.0
November 2024   DMStephenson / Atlas Obscura User
Bedale Leech House.   Gordon Hatton/CC BY-SA 2.0
Bedale Leech House.   Rosser1954/CC BY-SA 4.0
Bedale Heritage Trail Information board for the Leech House.   Mike Kirby/CC BY-SA 2.0
Trying to peek in the window   katielou106 / Atlas Obscura User
A 19th century leech jar.   Science Museum, London/CC BY 4.0
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About

A small brick hut on the edge of the Bedale Beck in England currently doesn’t look like much. People can't peek in the windows because they are actually false, but there’s nothing inside these days. It was once, however, occupied by ornate jars filled with bloodthirsty leeches.

The Georgian Bedale Leech House in Bedale, North Yorkshire is the last standing leech house in the United Kingdom. It was constructed to keep them alive, fresh, and hungry for blood while they waited for druggists or doctors to use them for bloodletting.

Now, there’s nothing left that would indicate how the leeches were stored, but containers of moist turf, moss, and water likely lined the place after it was built in the late 18th century, just as bloodletting became a widely used practice in Europe. A fireplace kept the leeches warm in the winter, and it’s thought the beck was rerouted to run through the structure. It’s surely one of very few monuments to humanity’s attempts at providing comfortable lodging for the bloodsucking relatives of the earthworm.

Leeches have been used medicinally for 4,000 years. Women often collected leeches in bogs and marshes with horses—or frequently their own legs. After feeding, the leeches could go as long as a year without another blood feast. They were transferred to the building.

The castellated  building was restored by the Bedale District Heritage Trust in 1985, but it went up for sale to a private owner in 2003. The building, just over 10-feet by 10-feet, is adorned with a door and three windows and overlooks the peaceful Bedale Renaissance Park.

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Leeches Houses Medicine Homes

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Easy parking nearby.

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Michael Inscoe

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alanjones, katielou106, DMStephenson

  • alanjones
  • katielou106
  • DMStephenson

Published

November 27, 2017

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Bedale Leech House
Bedale, England
United Kingdom
54.289178, -1.589587

Nearby Places

Thornborough Henges

West Tanfield, England

miles away

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miles away

Harmby Waterfall

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miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of England

England

United Kingdom

Places 2,219
Stories 145

Nearby Places

Thornborough Henges

West Tanfield, England

miles away

Swinton Druids Temple

North Yorkshire, England

miles away

Harmby Waterfall

Harmby, England

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of England

England

United Kingdom

Places 2,219
Stories 145

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