Highwood Hospital - Brentwood - Dec 2010 and Jan 2011

[Nelly]

I visited this hospital in December 2010 and enjoyed it so much that I returned in January 2011 to explore some more!!

Highwood Hospital was designed by Charles and William Henman who were commissioned by the Metropolitan Asylums Board to provide medical and

social conditions for poor children suffering from ophthalmia (A contagious eye condition)

Highwood was opened on 26 July 1904 and could accommodate 350 children.

Highwood Hospital 1965

In 1914, following the outbreak of the First World War, the hospital site was loaned to the War Office and from 1918 to 1919 it was briefly used for sane

epileptics.

It was then used to treat children suffering from tuberculosis (TB) and rheumatic diseases. London County Council took control of the site in 1930 and

they made a number of improvements to the buildings including the addition of sun balconies to the patients’ blocks to provide suitable open air treatment of

patients.

Highwood Hospital is a rare surviving example of the cottage home system. Although changes have been made to the buildings over time, at present, the character of Highwood’s origin still

remains. Many of the house cottage groups are still together and larger individual buildings still retain many architectural features

Modern History

The Hospital site had been made a conservation area in 2001 and closed little by little over the years as services moved to other hospitals in the area.

Highwood finally closed it's doors in 2009 and the 17 acre site was sold to Bellway Homes who plan to build over 200 homes.

Thanks for looking

 

[Maniac]

small and a little trashed, but there's a few nice bits and pieces there

There's still a cottage hospital in the town I live in, although it's been expanded quite a bit, it's still very small thou. One of these days it probably will close, can't see how it's economic to keep running.

Cheers for posting