Medieval leprosy hospital uncovered in Lincoln

The walls of what is thought to be one of medieval England's earliest and largest leprosy hospitals have been uncovered in Lincoln by Time Team archaeologists.

A three-day dig started on Friday on the South Common at the site of the Hospital of the Holy Innocents, which housed up to 20 people with leprosy around the late 11th to early 12th Centuries.

Time Team's Prof Carenza Lewis said they had found traces of square features where it is thought people were housed, which "haven't been excavated before, anywhere".

The dig marks the beginning of a three-year project backed by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The remains of the building were found last year during a Local Landscapes and Hidden Histories project.

More than 100 volunteers were involved in excavating test pits which uncovered what were thought to be the medieval boundary walls of the hospital.