Hospital

Saffron Walden General Hospital

Last updated 30 September 1999.

Details

Address

London Road, Saffron Walden, CB11 3HY

Foundation Year

1866

Status

Closed (since 1988)

Administrative Authorities

Regional Board (1948-1974)

South East Metropolitan

Management Committee (1948-1974)

West Suffolk

Regional Authority (1974-1982)

South East Thames

Regional Authority (Post-1982)

South East Thames

District Authority (1974-1982)

Essex Area

District Authority (Post-1982)

West Essex () Essex and Herts ()

Pre-1974 County

Essex

Post-1974 County

Essex

Post-1996 County

Not applicable

Status

Pre-1948

Voluntary

Post-1948

NHS

Type

Pre-1948

General

Post-1948

Acute

Other information

When local Quaker Wyatt George Gibson died in 1862 he left a sum of £5,000 for the purpose of building a hospital for the town of Saffron Walden. A meeting of the town's inhabitants appointed a committee to draw up a scheme for a hospital, and raise additional funds. A site near the Common was originally proposed, but Lord Braybrooke offered an alternative tract of land on London Road. Plans for the building were invited from several architects, which were submitted anonymously. The design chosen was by the London architect William Beck, whose works included an interesting housing development in Spicer Street, London, as well as The Vineyard in Saffron Walden. When tenders for construction were invited eight were submitted, and the contract was awarded to Messrs. Bell and Sons, of Cambridge and Saffron Walden. Bell were an inportant local building firm, responsible for many church restorations, including that of nearby Radwinter Church. After negotiation their original tender was reduced from £4,896 to £4,206. Building started in December 1864 and by September 1866 the Hospital was ready to receive patients. Sarah Ann Cogle was appointed as the Matron at a salary of £40 per annum. The total cost of building and equipping the Hospital is cited by C B Rowntree as £5,504 for construction, £600 for furnishings, and a further £100 for equipping the dispensary. This was raised by donations and public subscription. Ten people were elected to the first Management Committee including Lord Braybrooke as President, George Stokes, as Honorary Secretary, and George Stacey Gibson as elected Treasurer. The Medical Officers were the four Doctors practising in the town, Doctor Alfred James; Doctor Henry Stear; Doctor Francis Welsh and Doctor Edward Harley. The first patient admitted after the Hospital opened was William Haylock of Hempstead. A report in 1873 expressed concern about the low level of bed occupancy, and the rising costs, which had increased from £54 to £61 per patient per annum. A report from the following year notes that the existence of the hospital had helped check a serious ourbreak of fever. By admitting 13 patients from Littlebury free of charge the number of fatalities had been kept down to three. At first operations were carried out in the "Doctor's Room", next to the ground floor dispensary, and so in 1893 the Doctor's requested a new operating theatre. The alterations cost £151, but it was no longer necessary for patients to be "carried Upstarits by proters and Doctors". Other improvements included the purchase of a steriliser "not to cost more than £3" in 1894, and an "indoor ambulance" in 1899. Mrs Briscoe presented a horse-drawn ambulance to enable accident victims and seriously ill patients to be brought from the villages. Patients were admitted from as far away as Bartlow and Bishop's Stortford, and the Hospital was able to cover the upkeep of the horse by charging a fee for the use of the ambulance. in 1901 an X-ray "apparatus" was installed, at a cost of £50, and in 1904 the first House Committee was formed, to ensure cleanliness, completion of staff duties, and the regular saying of prayers. This committee was also responsible for enquiring who would pay the 1/6d weekly charge before a patient was allowed in. A hand-lift costing £215 was installed in 1909, which remained in service until it was replaced by an electric lift in 1963 at a cost of about £5,000. During World War One Twenty beds for the treatment of sick and wounded soldiers were placed at the disposal of the War Office, and although a local Red Cross Hospital was opened at Walden Place this number was increased to 30 in 1915. During the course of the war more than 750 military patients were treated at the hospital. Improvements continued after the War. An X-ray room, anaestetic room and new operating theatre were added in 1926. The nurses' house built in 1907 was extended in 1925. A sun balcony was added to the front of the Hospital, a boon to the patients, but disfiguring the fine gothic architecture of the building. In 1935 a new block was added to the west end, accommodating private patients and a children's ward. (The opening ceremony was performed by Gracie Fields). In that same year the Hospital admitted 570 patients, compared to the 284 addmitted in 1913. The Hospital Contributory scheme, which had ensured a steady income since its inauguration in 1929 ended with the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948. A Physiotherapy unit which had been set up in 1946 was supplemented by structural changes to accommodate an out patients department in 1954, and was soon dealing with thousands of patients each year. In more recent decades the services at the hospital were gradually eroded, some transferred to St James's Hospital in Radwinter Road, others transferred to larger hospitals. In 1988 the General Hospital closed, and was subsequently converted into the offices of Uttlesford District Council, 122 years after it first opened its doors.

Record locations

• Essex Record Office

  Record types

  Administrative

  1926 - 1989

  Finance

  1926 - 1949

  Admission

  1955 - 1967

  Ephemera

  1966 - 1966

  Other

  1976 - 1989

  Finding aids

  Finding aids

  Brief guide (BG)

  Location

  At Repository (AR)

  Details

  Acc 10976

  Some of the records listed under Saffron Walden Community Hospital may relate to this hospital: awaiting detailed listing

• Saffron Walden Town Council

  Record types

  Administrative

  1862 - 1948

  General

  1862 - 1948

  Finance

  1905 - 1948

  Nursing

  1919 - 1946

  Admission

  1866 - 1949

  Clinical

  1905 - 1948

  Finding aids

  Finding aids

  Brief guide (BG)

  Location

  At Repository (AR)

  Other Records Include: Entertainment committee 1922 - 1928; Annual Reports 1867 - 1948; Matrons Reports 1919 - 1946; Records of Operations 1905 - 1948