The Leech House

This little grade II listed building sits next to the Bedale Beck and was used in the late C18 - early C19 to store leeches, kept alive using fresh water from the beck.
Leeches were used extensively in the medical profession for blood-letting, being painless and safer than cutting the skin, when the leech was suitably replete it fell off without leaving an open wound. When a Doctor required leeches a local chemist would collect them from the store in a special jar and deliver them to him.