The Odiham Pest House, which dates from the early 1620s, Hampshire, UK. Used to quarantine people with infectious diseases.

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Odiham’s pest house dates from the early 1620s, and stands in the Church of All Saints churchyard. A local gentleman, Julian Smith, originally funded the building as a house for those suffering from extreme poverty. But smallpox was rife in Odiham in the 1700s, making a pest house a necessary evil. It seems likely that the afflicted lived housed in the pest house until they either recovered or died. Records of the time refer to burials near the “old Pest House.” The small building is one of only five remaining pest houses left in the United Kingdom.

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Size: 5026px × 3351px
Location: Odiham, Hampshire, England, UK
Photo credit: © Gillian Pullinger / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 1620s, 17th, britain, british, century, diseases, early, england, english, great, hampshire, heritage, historic, history, house, infectious, kingdom, odiham, people, pest, plague, quarantine, uk, united, village