The parish of St Peter constructed an isolation hospital for infectious diseases. It was a large house which included private accommodation for a nurse. Food and other requirements were left at the gate and collected by the nurse in charge. Although it is not known when the building was brought into use, the Pest House, as these places were called, fell out of use when the Sisters Hospital was opened in St Albans – now part of St Albans City Hospital – at the end of the 19th century. It is thought the pest house ceased to be used in the 1880s. Before its sale, the parish ordered the burning of all furniture and the fumigation of the building.
The location of the pest house was just north of where the entrance to the Rugby Club is in Oaklands Lane, although at that time the road was the southern end of Sandpit Lane. On the map below, the Pest House is printed just below and left of Popes Field, near the top of the map.
