ABERGELE
Abergele Hospital, Llanfair Road SH 946 755
In 1910 The South Manchester Board of Guardians acquired 434 acres of Plas Uchaf Estate in order to establish a Sanatorium. The first TB patients; 10 men. 13 women and 10 children were housed at Plas Uchaf and Pen-y-Coed. In June 1925 a contract was awarded to S F Hopley of Prestatyn for the sum of £12,822 to construct a bridge to gain access to the main road, the bridge spanned 315 feet in length rising to 96 feet in height above Gele stream. A new Children’s Section opened in 1931. The need for beds to treat Adults with TB gradually declined with the remaining adult patients at Plas Uchaf transferred to a 36 bed ward named the J B Morrison Unit. Became a chest hospital in the mid-1950s. Latterly largely orthopaedic
CHIRK
Chirk Community Hospital, SJ 294 389
Opened in 1990, on the site of the original Chirk and District Hospital, or Chirk Cottage Hospital itself built in 1921 and financed by the local coal miners. Foundation stones preserved in new entrance hall.
COLWYN BAY
Colwyn Bay Community Hospital, Hesketh Road, SH 860 781
Began as a small cottage hospital opened in 1899. Greatly extended in the inter-war years, and post-war. According to Wales.nhs.uk, by 1919 the original cottage hospital had become too small to cope with the growing population, so a monster fundraising effort was begun to finance a new building. While developing the plans architect Sidney Colwyn Foulkes wrote to America for copies of the latest hospital designs, these illustrated the first departure from the Florence Nightingale ward layout and subsequently it is believed that Colwyn Bay was the first hospital in the United Kingdom to adopt this new design. Outpatients department added 1955-60. An EMI (elderly mentally infirm) unit was also added to the site and officially opened in 1995
Mary Bamber Convalescent Home, Colwyn Bay Queen’s Avenue, SH 844 786
DENBIGH
Denbigh Community Hospital, Ruthin Road, SJ 058 663
Formerly Denbighshire Infirmary, built by 1875. Major extension to rear 1970s-80s. Founded in 1807, said to be the first voluntary hospital in Wales.
North Wales Hospital (North Wales Counties Lunatic Asylum), Denbigh SJ 051 650
Designed by Thomas Fulljames it was opened in 1848 . Built on a 20 acre site donated by Joseph Ablett of Llanbedr Hall in 1844, at a cost of £27,500. Joseph Ablett did not live to see the opening of the hospital and his widow later donated the chapel built in the central clock tower in memory of him. Main range constructed from local limestone in the Jacobean style, made up of three wings around a quadrangle and later a central clock tower with a chapel added. In 1862 a new Gothic style chapel was added by Lloyd Williams and Underwood. At this time also a new wing was added and a house for the Medical Superintendent. There was further expansion from 1881, with a new dining hall with a capacity of 440 and a new wing for 190 male patients. Between 1895 and 1910 there was considerable further growth, involving the demolition of existing buildings. By the 1950s the initial 200 patient population had grown to 1500. The process of closure of the site took place between 1991 and 2002, with the main unit closing in 1995. the site was sold in 1999, with various plans coming to nothing and with much damage occurring on the site through vandalism and arson. By 2018, after several aborted plans for development, a plan for a development of 300 houses emerged, on a site that is stated to be 35 acres. However, the Google maps view of March 2023 shows that the site remains undeveloped and in a poor state. For images and the story of the hospital see the BBC Wales news article on the Asylum.
Llangwyfan Hospital, Denbigh SJ 123 659
Now Alexander House, Highfield Park, owned by Mental Health Care UK. It was built as the North Wales Sanatorium, in 1918-20 by the King Edward VII Welsh National Memorial Association (which also built the sanatorium at Talgarth). Closed in 1981. [Sources. RCAHMW]
FLINT
Flint Community Hospital, Cornist Road, SJ 238 727
Flint Cottage Hospital opened on 1st May 1920. The “modern house” that housed the hospital had been donated by the Glanzstoff Company (Liverpool Daily Post 20th September 1918) some time before their going into receivership in 1917 and subsequent take over by Courtaulds. They had opened their factory in 1913 manufacturing artificial silk. As part of the donation an Endowment Fund of £3000 had to be raised by the town. The hospital closed in 2013 and lay empty before being badly damaged in an arson attack in January 2021, with plans then for the site to be cleared for the building of a care home.
HOLYWELL
Holywell Cottage Hospital Pen-y-Maes Rd SJ 188 759
After a ten year process to establish the Cottage Hospital to replace the Flintshire Dispensary, work was completed in 1909 (North Wales Weekly 27th August 1909). The Architect was a Mr S Evans of Mold and the hospital had been gifted by a Mr Edwin Jones, a native of the town but resident in Clapham Park, London. The first person treated there was a victim from a colliery accident, a Mr Wright (reported in the Finsbury Weekly News and Chronicle 17th December 1909). The hospital closed in 2008 and services transferred to the new Holywell Community Hospital.
Holywell Community Hospital, Halkyn Road, SJ 189 754
Opened in 2008. Replaced the former Holywell Cottage Hospital, Lluesty Hospital, Holywell Clinics and GP surgery.
Lluesty Hospital (Holywell Union Workhouse), Old Chester Rd SJ 189 750
Originally the Holywell Union Workhouse completed in 1840 and designed by John Welch. An Infirmary was added in 1913. It changed name in 1930 to the Lluesty Public Assistance Institution and with the arrival of the NHS to the Lluesty General Hospital. It closed in 2008 with the opening of the Holywell Community Hospital.
LLANGOLLEN
Llangollen Community Hospital, Abbey Road, SJ 211 423
Cottage hospital, plans for which started in 1874 and was opened in 1876. It was erected at the sole expense of a Mr W Wagstaffe, in memory of his wife (Caernarvon and Denbigh Herald 15th Jan 1876). In 1966 the hospital is listed with a capacity of 22 beds. it was closed in 2013 and the site developed for housing.
MOLD
Mold Community Hospital, The Grove, CH7 1RH
A small cottage hospital, built in 1877, according to the date above the door. It survives next to a large community hospital opened in 1985, facing onto Pwll Glas. The old building now serves as the centre for the Flint Mental Health Team.
PENLEY
Penley Hospital SJ 417 399
Penley Polish Community Hospital. EMS hospital, of which about a third seems to survive. During the war three three large American Army Hospitals were built in preparation for D-day casualties. Penley Hall no. 129 General Hospital with 1,000 beds, Llanerch Panna No. 83 Station Hospital with 800 beds, just south west of Penley and a 200-bed hospital in Iscoyd Park near Whitchurch, about 9 km east of Penley. In 1946 Polish field hospitals were moved into the vacated buildings, in 1947 the Ministry of Pensions took them over for the treatment not only of Polish war pensioners and ex-servicemen but also their families. In 1949 Llanerch Panna closed down and the patients were moved to hospital no. 3 in Penley and hospital no. 4 at Iscoyd Park. Iscoyd treated patients with TB and mental health problems, closing in 1957 and returned to the Godsal family of Iscoyd Park. A history of Penley and related hospitals can be found here.
PRESTATYN
Prestatyn Community Hospital, 49 The Avenue, SJ 068 819
Chatsworth House Maternity Home, large 1920s building. Initially a preparatory school, Chatsworth House, it became a maternity home with the arrival of the NHS. In 1973 it became the Prestatyn Community Hospital, finally closing in 2013 it was demolished in 2015 and the 1.75 acre site developed for housing (see news article)
RHYL
Glan Clwyd Hospital / Ysbty Glan Clwyd Rhuddlan Road, Bodelwyddan, Rhyl, LL18 5UJ
General hospital built on a greenfield site, opened in 1980. Undergoing major renovations since 2012.
Royal Alexandra Hospital, Marine Drive, Rhyl, LL18 3AS late Victorian pavilion-plan hospital, western pavilions built by 1899, rest completed by 1912. Also has the Emi-Glan Traeth Day Hospital.
RUTHIN
Ruthin Community Hospital, Llanrhydd Street, LL15 1PS Poor Law infirmary built in 1914 for Ruthin Union Workhouse, immediately to the north-west. Greatly extended in the 1970s-80s, at which time – or thereabouts – the workhouse buildings were demolished.
Tan-Y-Castell, Mwrog Street, Ruthin, SJ 116 578 nursing home, 1980s
ST ASAPH
HM Stanley Hospital, Upper Denbigh Road, St Asaph, LL17 0RS
Originated as St Asaph Union Workhouse, to which an infirmary was added around the turn of the century. Major additions to south in interwar years.
SHOTTON
Deeside Community Hospital, Plough Lane, Shotton, CH5 1XS Big, low-rise hospital opened in 1992, replacing Mancot Hospital. New unit added in 2004 for elderly rehabilitation.
WREXHAM
Nightingale House, Grove Road, Wrexham, LL11 1DY
Inter-war general hospital (Wrexham and East Denbighshire War Memorial Hospital), part of this, and detached chapel, now annex of college (Coleg Cambria), but much demolished. Former Nurses’ Home, at some distance to north, was originally a private house that was extended (now Emral House nursing home), a health centre and a hospice (Nightingale House) built on the site in the 1980s?
Wrexham Maelor Hospital, Croesnewydd Road, LL13 7TD
To the east of the site, the former Wrexham Union Workhouse, to the west a fever hospital (c.1880s-90s). In between a substantial workhouse infirmary appears to have been built prior to the First World War. To the south Plas Maelor Institution was built in the interwar period. Major extensions of the 1980s.