Ugie Hospital

Valentine’s postcard of Ugie Hospital, probably dating from soon after the hospital was built.

Ugie Hospital was formerly the infectious diseases hospital for Peterhead. The foundation stone was laid by Provost Leash in June 1905 and the hospital opened in 1907. It was built on the standard plan with, at the centre, the two‑storey administration building of a very domestic character.

Ugie Hospital, photographed in October 2020 © H. Blakeman

Most of the original buildings survive, though now linked together by later infill. The old hospital building is of pink Peterhead granite enlivened by bull‑faced quoins and dressings, in a simple Tudor-Gothic style with mullioned windows and steep gables. It was designed by the Burgh Surveyor, T. H. Scott. The construction cost £4,000 and was helped along with a bequest of £1,500. In 1920 Peterhead Town Council built a small TB annexe and further additions in 1922.

Extract from the 2nd edition OS map, revised in 1924. Reproduced by permission of the National Library of Scotland

Before the Ugie Hospital was provided, a small hospital had been built in 1880. Prior to that, c.1865, a house at Roanheads had been used for a fever hospital, although it only provided two beds. (It may be that this was attached to the poorhouse, see the page for Aberdeenshire, Peterhead Parish Home.)

Ugie Hospital, photographed in October 2020 © H. Blakeman

When I visited the site in October 2020, the hospital was closed and empty. Its future was being discussed in 2018-19, and it was subsequently declared surplus to requirements. In-patients were moved to Peterhead Community Hospital in November 2019. All remaining staff had been relocated out of the hospital by the end of last year.

[Sources: Aberdeen Evening Express

Ugie Hospital, part of west ward block. Photographed in October 2020 © H. Blakeman
View from south-west, with the original ward wing to left and 1920s additions in foreground.
Photographed in October 2020 © H. Blakeman
Service block on the north side of the hospital. Photographed in October 2020 © H. Blakeman
The hospital viewed from the north west. Photographed in October 2020 © H. Blakeman
Detail of one of the original ward blocks, showing the distinctive sanitary annexe. Photographed in October 2020 © H. Blakeman
Detail of the western ward block, with ornamental iron rainwater heads, and ventilation grills. Photographed in October 2020 © H. Blakeman
View of the hospital from the west, trees bent by the prevailing winds.
Photographed in October 2020 © H. Blakeman
The rear wall of the hospital, showing its exposed site on the coast.
Photographed in October 2020 © H. Blakeman.
To the rear of the hospital, mobile dental unit. Photographed in October 2020 © H. Blakeman

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