Avon

ALMONDSBURY

Almondsbury Hospital (Almondsbury Memorial Hospital) ST 607 839, BF101525

BATH

Bath Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital, 27-28 Marlborough Buildings. A small urban specialist hospital, established in 1837 in two converted Georgian houses in a terrace to the west of the Royal Crescent. ST 743 655, BF101256

Bath Eye Infirmary, 1 Belvedere, Lansdown Road. A small, city-centre specialist institution, established in 1811 and occupying various premises before finding a permanent home in 1889 at No. 1 Belvedere, a large, five-storey, end-of-terrace Georgian house. This was converted to medical use and was supplemented in 1907 by the purchase of the adjoining house, No. 2, and by the addition of various modern improvements. The building is no longer used as a hospital. ST 749 655, 101155

Bellot’s Hospital, Beau Street. A small institution, established as an almshouse in 1609 for the poor of the district and rebuilt in 1859. A simple, two-storey structure of stone, it provided a bath connected to mineral springs for inmates.  ST 750 645, 101140

Claverton Hospital (demolished) (Bath Statutory Hospital for Infectious Diseases) This infectious diseases hospital was provided by the local authority in 1876 and comprised a collection of temporary wooden ward blocks and two fever tents until permanent buildings were constructed in 1931-4. F. P. Sissons, Bath City Engineer, designed the new hospital buildings which included a cubicle isolation block.  ST 779 629, 101260

Combe Down Convalescent Home ST 760 620, 101531

Forbes Fraser Hospital, Evelyn Road. Established in 1924 as a paying patients’ hospital in connection with the Royal United Hospital. It provided 100 beds in single-storey ward blocks with verandas. ST 727 657, 101262

Lansdown Hospital and Nursing Home, Lansdown Grove. A private hospital and nursing home founded in 1893. The eastern half of the building dates from 1888 and therefore was presumably built as a private house. It appears as the Lansdown Hospital and Nursing Home on the 1903 OS map and an extension was built in 1905 to the west. The building occupies a magnificent site and is an impressive, if undisciplined piece of late Victorian architecture, with its riot of gables, towers and chimney stacks creating a lively skyline. Converted to private flats, probably in the 1980s, as Haygarth Court. ST 748 657, 101255

Royal Bath United Hospital, West Site (Bath, Somerset and Wiltshire Central Orthopaedic Hospital) ST 727 658, 101599

Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases (Bath General Hospital; Bath Mineral Water Hospital), Upper Borough Walls. This rare survival of a mid-eighteenth-century hospital was established in 1737 to provide assistance for the increasing number of sick poor who flocked to Bath seeking a cure for rheumatic diseases. The original building, designed by John Wood, senior, had a simple classical facade with a central pediment supported by engaged Ionic columns. The attic storey was added by John Palmer, the city architect, in 1793 to ease the overcrowding in the hospital. Several proposals were considered for removing the hospital to a new site but these came to nothing and in 1858 the adjacent site to the west was acquired and a large new block built upon it to designs by Manners and Gill. Its principal facade closely echoed that of Wood’s building. The two blocks were linked by a bridge over Vicarage Lane. The west block was badly damaged by a direct hit from a bomb in 1942. With the inauguration of the National Health Service there was considerable doubt about the future of the buildings but eventually it was decided to restore the west block and retain the whole site. The work on the west block was finally carried out in 1962-5.  ST 749 648, 101073

Royal United Hospital, Evelyn Road. In 1992 this was a well-preserved example of a large general hospital erected in the inter-war period. It was designed by Adams, Holden & Pearson and opened in 1932. Designed on a U-shaped plan, of two and three storeys, the administration block was placed at the centre with the wards in the projecting wings. ST 728 657, 101261

Royal United Hospital (former) (latterly City of Bath Technical College), Beau Street. A small general hospital, which began life c.1747 as a dispensary and later operated as an infirmary and dispensary. For many years it was the only medical facility available for the poor of the city. In 1823 it combined with a nearby accident hospital to form the Bath United Hospital, which opened in 1826 in a purpose-built hospital in the town centre, designed by Messrs Pinch. This was a simple, three-storeyed classical building, of stone, with an Ionic portico facing Beau Street. In 1864 an additional west wing, also of stone, was built in memory of the late Prince Albert, and at the same time the original structure was given an extra storey; hereafter the hospital was known as the Royal United Hospital. Later additions and alterations include a children’s ward, built on top of the Albert Wing in 1891; a stone chapel, by Browne & Gill, erected in 1898; a nurses’ home and out-patients’ department of 1909, by E. Keene Oliver, built on the opposite side of Hot Bath Street; and the refitting of part of the existing buildings in 1913-14. The Royal United Hospital moved to new premises in Combe Park in 1932 and the buildings in Beau Street were in use as a technical college in 1992. ST 747 646, 101141

St Martin’s Hospital, Midford Road (Bath Union Workhouse; Frome Road Poor Law Institution) An early poor-law workhouse, designed by Sampson Kempthorne and built in 1836-8, comprising a Y-shaped group of three-storey ward blocks surrounded by one- and two-storey service buildings. In 1834-6 a chapel was erected by John Plass, an inmate. Later additions include a two-storey infirmary. ST 742 622, 101257

BRISTOL

Brislington House, Bath Road. This large and imposing building, a nursing home in 1992, was originally erected c.1804 as a private lunatic asylum and comprised a series of detached houses which have since been united. The asylum was established by Dr Edward Fox, an important figure in the early history of the care of the insane. He also pioneered the use of iron in the construction of asylums both for fireproofing and to alleviate the ‘dangers from … lice and vermin’. A chapel was added in 1850-1 at the north end of the asylum and it may have been at this date that the separate blocks were joined together. The recreation hall was added in 1866 to the east of the chapel, its plain exterior giving no hint of the rich interior with its classically detailed plasterwork and panelling.  ST 633 702, 101333

Bristol General Hospital, Guinea Street. Originally founded in 1832 and established in converted premises in Guinea Street, this general hospital moved to a new purpose-built home erected in 1856-7 adjacent to Bathurst Basin. The new hospital, designed by William Bruce Gingell, of Bristol, was an imposing three-storey building, faced with Pennant stone rubble with Bath stone dressings. It featured French-inspired dormer roofs and corner turret, and had open colonnades and an unusual, heavily-rusticated basement storey, with large open vaults to be offered for rent as warehouse space.

The hospital contained an out-patients’ department and administrative and staff rooms on the ground floor, with general wards for males and females on the two floors above; nurses’ were accommodated in the attic. An additional ward and staff wing, also of Pennant and Bath stone, was added in 1888-91, designed by Crisp & Oatley, a local firm. Subsequent additions include: a two-storey detached isolation block and a further nurses’ home extension (1907); a large women’s and maternity ward wing (1914), with open sun balconies and a roof garden; a pathological laboratory (1914); a chapel (1915); and a new out-patients’ department (1931). The original buildings have suffered greatly, having lost their dormer roofs and cupola, and the open colonnades and sun balconies have been filled in.  ST 588 722, 101332

Bristol Homoeopathic Hospital, Cotham Hill. The hospital was founded as a homeopathic dispensary in a house in Queen Square in 1852. It was not until 1903 that in-patients were catered for in a building in Brunswick Square. In 1917 Walter Melville Wills, then President of the hospital, purchased Cotham House with a view to erecting a new hospital in its grounds. The design of the new building was drawn up by George Oatley and Lawrence in 1920 and work began in the following summer. The elegant, honey-coloured stone building was largely of three storeys, asymmetrically planned and ornamented with Jacobean details. There were pavilion-plan wards and some private single rooms and a marble-lined operating theatre on the top floor of the north wing. The gardens were laid out with much care in 1925-7, and Cotham House was converted into a nurses’ home. The hospital was transferred to the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948 but is now largely empty apart from a homeopathic clinic. ST 582 738, 101327

Bristol Royal Infirmary, Marlborough Street (Bristol Infirmary). The infirmary at Bristol was one of the first to be founded in England outside London. Subscriptions began to be made in November 1736 and the present site was acquired shortly afterwards. The first patients were admitted to the make-shift hospital in the following year. It was not until 1782 that the decision to provide a new, purpose-built infirmary was taken. Thomas Paty, a local architect, drew up the plans and building proceeded in three phases. The east wing was erected first between 1784 and 1786. The central block was put up in 1788-92 and the west wing added in 1806-10. It was a large and impressive building of three storeys and basement, to which an attic storey was added later. A chapel with a museum underneath was added in 1858. In 1911-12 the King Edward VII wing was built to provide up-to-date medical and surgical wards. It was designed by H. Percy Adams and Charles Holden in a stylish, stripped classical style which looks forward to inter-war modernism. The infirmary became part of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948 and continued to serve Bristol as a general hospital until recently. ST 587 735, 101329

Cossham Memorial Hospital, Lodge Hill Road, Kingswood. This small general hospital was built through the generosity of Handel Cossham, the MP for Bristol East. He left a substantial sum for the erection and endowment of a hospital when he died in 1890. Work commenced in 1903 to the designs of F. Bligh Bond and the hospital opened on 1 June 1907. It was an imposing building, of two storeys and attic, dominated by an ornate polygonal tower with four clock faces, surmounted by a cupola and weather-vane. Built of local Pennant stone with Bath stone dressings, there was a wealth of decoration on the main façade. Only minor additions were made subsequently and when the hospital was transferred to the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948 it must have appeared much as it had done when it was first built. ST 642 746, 101331

Glenside Hospital (City and County of Bristol Mental Hospital; Bristol Mental Hospital) ST 615 761, 101585

Manor Park Hospital, Manor Road (Bristol Corporation Workhouse; Stapleton Institution). A former workhouse site, featuring: an old prison block, of stone, erected during the early nineteenth century by French prisoners of war and later converted to dormitory use; a main three-storey workhouse section, of c.1890, facing the road; detached two-storey infirmaries for male and female inmates, also dating from the late nineteenth century; and a small chapel. ST 629 762, 101326

Nover’s Hill Isolation Hospital ST 587 687, 102755

Queen Victoria Jubilee Convalescent Home ST 560 740, BF101532. Convalescent home built in 1897, with 90 beds for patients from the Bristol hospitals. E-shaped plan of building. Built from brick with stone dressings.

Royal Hospital for Sick Children, St Michael’s Hill (Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Women; Children’s Hospital). A purpose-built children’s hospital, erected in 1883 on a commanding site to replace earlier converted premises nearby. The architect was Robert Curwen, of Westminster, who designed a small, pavilion-plan group of wards, facing south, connected on their north sides by a corridor to a Perpendicular-style administration building on the main road. All the buildings were of local red stone, quarried on site, lined with brick and dressed with Bath stone. As well as the usual general wards, the hospital provided apparatus for the treatment of croup, a surgical ward where mothers could accompany their babies, a convalescents’ play-room, and two wards for women. There were also isolation (and later out-patients’) facilities in the grounds. ST 585 735, 101328

Southmead Hospital (Barton Regis Union Workhouse; Bristol Union Workhouse) ST 591 777, 100888

University of Bristol Dental Hospital, Lower Maudlin Street. A small city-centre dental institution, designed by Eustace H. Button and erected in c.1940, it combined an out-patients’ department with laboratory, lecture and library facilities for the students. Of three stories, it is a plain, utilitarian building of red brick, with minimal stone dressings and period aluminium lettering. An air-raid shelter was included in the original design. ST 586 735, 101330

CLEVEDON

Clevedon Hospital (Clevedon Cottage Hospital) ST 413 713, 101526

EASTON-IN-GORDANO

Ham Green Hospital (Bristol Infectious Diseases Hospital) ST 532 756, 102756

FRAMPTON COTTERELL

Northwoods Asylum ST 638 824, 101573

FRESHFORD

Queen Victoria Cottage Hospital ST 780 600, 101527

KEWSTOKE

Birmingham Hospital Saturday Fund Convalescent Home for Women, (Kewstoke Convalescent Centre, Cygnet Hospital Kewstoke) ST 333 634, BF101529. The Birmingham Hospital Convalescent Home for Women was built in 1931 to designs by W H Martin. 3-storey central block with two 3 storey wings. It remains in use as a convalescent centre.

KEYNSHAM

Keynsham Fever and Smallpox Hospital ST 653 677, 102752

MANGOTSFIELD RURAL

Warmley RDC Fever Hospital ST 666 766, 102751

PAULTON

Paulton Hospital, Salisbury Road (Paulton Isolation Hospital). A small, rural isolation hospital, designed in 1925 by A. J. Pictor, and built in 1930. It comprised five detached blocks: a combined, two-storey administration and staff building; two single-storey ward blocks, one each for scarlet fever and diphtheria cases; an observation block; and a laundry and disinfecting block. All were of local stone with red-tile roofs.  ST 657 557, 101335

Paulton Hospital, Salisbury Road (Paulton Memorial Hospital). A small district hospital, erected in 1885-6 as a memorial to Mr J. G. Mogg and replacing an earlier cottage hospital of 1872. The new hospital was designed by W. F. Unsworth, of London, and comprised an asymmetrical, vernacular-style group of buildings, of local stone, red brick, tilehanging and some mock half-timbering. The hospital was extended in 1930 and again in 1938, on both occasions with the financial assistance of the Miners’ Welfare Fund. ST 655 557, 101334

STOKE GIFFORD

Stoke Park Hospital (Stoke Park Colony) ST 623 775, 101574

WESTON SUPER MARE

Cannock Chase and Pelsall Miners’ Convalescent Home ST 320 610, BF100769. Convalescent home established in a pair of 19th-century, three-storey houses.

Drove Road Hospital (Weston Super Mare UDC Infectious Diseases Hospital) ST 323 616, 102754

Queen Alexandra Memorial Hospital (Weston-super-Mare Hospital) ST 323 616, 101528

The Royal Hospital (The Royal West of England Sanatorium) ST 316 599, 102753

WINTERBOURNE

Frenchay Hospital (Frenchay Park Sanatorium and Children’s Orthopaedic Home) ST 636 777, 102784

YATE

Chipping Sodbury War Memorial Hospital ST 720 824, 101530