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The Bedale Leech House

The Bedale Leech House

Thought to be the last remaining leech house in Britain and can be found just outside Masham near the river in Bedale

There were thought to be four 'humours', or fluids, in the human body and for optimum health they needed to be in balance. The humours were blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile.

One of the most unusual Georgian buildings in Britain is a small castellated red-brick building on the banks of Bedale Beck, on the edge of the historic market town of Bedale, Yorkshire. This is the Bedale Leech House, where leeches for bloodletting were kept until they were needed by local doctors. This is thought to be the last remaining leech house in Britain.

History

This medical theory evolved in ancient Greece and led to the common practice of bloodletting; draining blood from a patient. Sometimes a doctor would cut the patient and drain blood into a receptacle, but it was much easier to control the amount of blood loss by using leeches.