Somerset

AXBRIDGE

St John’s Hospital (Axbridge Union Workhouse; subsequently St John’s Court) ST 428 545 100605

St John’s Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt

St Michael’s Cheshire Home (St Michael’s Free Home for Consumptives) ST 440 548 100653

BATH

Bath Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital, 27-28 Marlborough Buildings  ST 743 655, BF101256

Houses formerly occupied as Bath ENT Hospital, photographed early 1990s ©️ H. Richardson

A small urban specialist hospital, established in 1837 in two converted Georgian houses in a terrace to the west of the Royal Crescent.

Bath Eye Infirmary, 1 Belvedere, Lansdown Road. ST 749 655, 101155

Former home of the Bath Eye Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson

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.

Bellot’s Hospital, Beau Street, ST 750 645, 101140

Bellot’s Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson
Bellot’s Hospital, detail of coat of arms above the entrance, photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson
Beau Street, with Royal United and Bellot’s Hospitals occupying much of the south side of the street, from the OS Town Plan surveyed in 1883 CC-BY (NLS)

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.  

Claverton Hospital (Bath Statutory Hospital for Infectious Diseases)  ST 779 629, 101260 (demolished)

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.

Combe Down Convalescent Home ST 760 620, 101531

Forbes Fraser Hospital, Evelyn Road. ST 727 657, 101262 (largely demolished)

Forbes Fraser Hospital photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson
Forbes Fraser Hospital photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson
Forbes Fraser Hospital on the 25-inch OS map revised in 1930 CC-BY (NLS)
Forbes Fraser Hospital photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson
Forbes Fraser Hospital on the large-scale OS map surveyed in 1951 CC-BY (NLS). Most of the hospital has been demolished except the bottom left pair of ward wings, and possibly some of the ranges at the north-west corner.

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.

Lansdown Hospital and Nursing Home, Lansdown Grove. ST 748 657, 101255

Landsdown Hospital photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson

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.

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

Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases (Bath General Hospital; Bath Mineral Water Hospital), Upper Borough Walls. ST 749 648, 101073

The Mineral Water Hospital (eastern block to left, original west block to right)

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.

Mineral Water Hospital on the OS Town Plan surveyed in 1883 CC-BY (NLS)

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.  

The chapel to the south of the west block, photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson
Interior of the chapel, photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson

Royal United Hospital, Evelyn Road, Coombe Park ST 728 657, 101261 (partly demolished)

Royal United Hospital photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson
RUH photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson
Detail of sections of the former RUH photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson

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.

Royal United Hospital on the large-scale OS map surveyed in 1951 CC-BY (NLS)

The Forbes Fraser Hospital (see above) was built on ground just to the south-east, the orthopaedic hospital to the west (see above). To the north Manor Hospital was built during the Second World War as a complex of single-storey hutted ward blocks for the Emergency Medical Scheme. There were still remnants of these hutted blocks extant in 2015.

The Manor Hospital site to the north of the RUH on the large-scale OS map surveyed in 1951 CC-BY (NLS)

Royal United Hospital (former) (latterly City of Bath Technical College), Beau Street. ST 747 646, 101141 (Gainsborough Hotel in 2025)

Bath United Hospital, 1826 building photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson

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.

Albert Wing of Royal United Hospital, west front to left and south front to right. photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson

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. (The single storey range to the rear of the Albert Wing, as seen on the photo above on the right, and in the photo below of the south front, was demolished and rebuilt to match the height of the adjacent wing as part of the conversion to a hotel.)

Royal United Hospital on the OS Town Plan surveyed in 1883 CC-BY (NLS)
The chapel added to the rear of the original building, photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson

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.

South range of the former Royal United Hospital facing Lower Borough Walls, photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson. The wing was demolished to make way for an extension to the hotel around 2010.

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. Major renovation work was carried out c.2010-14 when the single-storey range on the south was demolished and rebuilt as a three-storey and basement extension to the former Albert Wing. It re-opened as the Gainsborough Hotel

St Martin’s Hospital, Midford Road (Bath Union Workhouse; Frome Road Poor Law Institution) ST 742 622, 101257  (Second World War additions demolished, original workhouse range adapted for housing, hospital range to west closed and standing empty in 2024)

St Martin’s Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson

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.

Bath Union workhouse on the 25-inch OS map surveyed in 1882-3 CC-BY (NLS)
St Martin’s Hospital Chapel, photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson
St Martin’s Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson
St Martin’s Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson
St Martin’s Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson
St Martin’s Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson
St Martin’s Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson
St Martin’s Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson
St Martin’s Hospital on the large-scale OS map surveyed in 1949 CC-BY (NLS), showing the development of EMS hutted ward blocks to the south, these were demolished some time after 1990.
St Martin’s Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson
St Martin’s Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson
St Martin’s Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, ©️ H. Richardson

BISHOPS LYDEARD

Sandhill Park Hospital ST 156 298 100497

Sandhill Park Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt
Sandhill Park Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt
Sandhill Park Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt
Sandhill Park Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt
Sandhill Park Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt
Sandhill Park Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt

Tone Vale Hospital (Somerset County Asylum) ST 168 273 100255

BRIDGWATER

Blake Hospital (Bridgwater Union Workhouse) ST 297 373 100432

Bridgwater and District General Hospital (Bridgwater Infirmary) ST 302 370 100496

Bridgewater Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt
Bridgewater Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt

BURNHAM-ON-SEA AND HIGHBRIDGE

Burnham-on-Sea War Memorial Hospital ST 307 493 100770

BUTLEIGH

Butleigh Hospital (Sir George Bowles Hospital; Butleigh Cottage Hospital) ST 520 331 100774

CHARD TOWN

Chard and District Cottage Hospital ST 331 087 100771

Chard and District Hospital (Chard Union Workhouse) ST 331 087 100429

CLEVEDON

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

COSSINGTON

Somerset CC Isolation Hospital ST 350 400 102757

CREWKERNE

Crewkerne Hospital ST 438 094 100491

Crewkerne Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt

DUNSTER

Dunster Cottage Hospital (Dunster Village Hospital) S0 989 436 100772

EASTON-IN-GORDANO

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

EDINGTON

Edington Cottage Hospital ST 382 394 100495

Edington Cottage Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt

FRESHFORD

Queen Victoria Cottage Hospital ST 780 600, 101527

FROME

Selwood Hospital (Frome Union Workhouse; now Ecos Court) ST 770 475 100573

Victoria Hospital (Victoria Hospital and Nursing Home) ST 773 477 100603

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

MINEHEAD

Minehead and West Somerset Hospital, The Avenue SS 970 463 BF100493. A building of 1890, possibly a public hall. It became a convalescent home in 1914 and a hospital in 1919. An extension was built in 1923 and the hospital has since spread further to incorporate a former police station.

PAULTON

Paulton Hospital, Salisbury Road (Paulton Isolation Hospital) ST 657 557, 101335. 

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.  

Paulton Hospital, Salisbury Road (Paulton Memorial Hospital), ST 655 557, 101334 

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. 

SELWORTHY

Minehead and Williton Isolation Hospital SS 931 458 100428

SHEPTON MALLET

Norah Fry Hospital (Shepton Mallet Union Workhouse) ST 612 434 100606

Norah Fry Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt
Norah Fry Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt
Norah Fry Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt
Norah Fry Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt
Norah Fry Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt
Norah Fry Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt

Shepton Mallet District Hospital ST 620 630 100604

Shepton Mallet Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt

St Peter’s Hospital (Shepton Mallet Isolation Hospital) ST 606 436 100574

ST CUTHBERT OUT

Mendip Hospital (Somerset County Lunatic Asylum; Somerset and Bath Lunatic Asylum) ST 571 465 100158

Mendip Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt
Mendip Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt
Mendip Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt
Mendip Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt
Mendip Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt
Mendip Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt

TAUNTON

Cheddon Road Hospital (Taunton Borough Isolation Hospital) ST 228 264 100427

Musgrove Park Hospital ST 314 243 100435

Taunton and Somerset Hospital ST 235 245 100431

Trinity Hospital (Taunton Union Workhouse) ST 236 244 100492

Trinity Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt

Taunton Nursing Institution, East Reach

Taunton Nursing Institution, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt

WELLINGTON

Wellington and District Hospital (Wellington and District Cottage Hospital) ST 139 203 100773

WELLS

Priory Hospital (Wells Union Workhouse) ST 540 455 100575

Priory Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt
Priory Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt
Priory Hospital, photographed in the early 1990s, (c) L. Holmstadt

Wells and District Hospital (Wells Cottage Hospital) ST 557 461 100768

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

WINCANTON

Verrington Hospital (Wincanton Rural District Isolation Hospital ST 704 289 100430

Wincanton and East Somerset Memorial Hospital ST 715 285 100778

Wincanton and East Somerset Memorial Hospital (old) ST 710 280 100777

Wincanton Cottage Hospital ST 710 280 100776

YEOVIL

Summerlands Hospital (Yeovil Union Workhouse) ST 545 165 100488

Yeovil District Hospital ST 555 163 100490

Yeovil Municipal Maternity Home (Yeovil General Dispensary ST 552 165 100489