Edward Jenner's Temple of Vaccinia

The pioneer of vaccination, Dr Edward Jenner (1749-1823), lived and worked in Berkeley, in the District of Stroud, close to the river Severn. It was he who carried out the first inoculation against smallpox, a then-deadly disease, using a small dose of cowpox as a vaccine. As a result of the subsequent vaccination campaign, smallpox has been eradicated, though the last UK outbreak occurred just over fifty years ago, in Bradford. Worryingly, both the US and Russia still hold stocks of smallpox, which they refuse to have destroyed. Chemical warfare, anyone?

As a child of twelve, I read the stories of Dr Edward Jenner and Joseph Lister (he of the handwashing-with-carbolic-soap) with great excitement. However, it had never occurred to me to visit Dr Jenner's house in Berkeley because unconsciously I was expecting a giant display of syringes. Vaccination just isn't sexy, is it? In Stroud, as everywhere, it's a controversial topic. I've never had children, so never had to choose. Immunisation does save lives. I doubt if anyone would contradict that.

Now that we've joined the Historic Houses Association, I have a handy little informative app for my iPad. So when we decided to go on a short trip today, I realised that the house and grounds had more to offer than grisly drawings. We drove to the Queen Anne style house, adjacent to Berkeley Castle, and spent a pleasant hour or so inside, and even longer in the garden and churchyard. This rustic thatched hut in the grounds of the Chantry (house), is where Dr Jenner immunised the poor of the parish, free of charge. As such, it is regarded by many as the birthplace of modern public health. Latterly, the hut had fallen into disrepair, but was restored in 2011. Dr Jenner called it his Temple of Vaccinia.

Jenner museum website

After we'd explored the surrounding area and decided to come back another day to visit the castle and butterfly farm, we drove down to the canal at Purton, crossed the bridge, and parked up outside a rather defunct looking pub. I had a moment of deja-vu and realised I'd been there around fifteen years ago with a friend who is no longer with us, and again with CleanSteve. So I remembered the strange WWII lookout post, and the trains on the other side of the river, and the bull with big balls who wasn't actually there today...

We had a little picnic down by the river, despite the strict notices warning us that if we 'loitered' on the footpath or attempted to do anything other than walk, we'd be shot on sight! As it was, the shooting was confined to the other side of the river, where we could hear a gun being fired among the wooded slopes. The sun beat down, and the river sparkled, and the wading birds waded to order. All perfect, and so it should be, for tomorrow I return to school/work after my long summer holidays.