Bridge Hospital (EHER 15386)

Witham Union Workhouse was built in 1839 and could accommodate 300 people. The architects were George Gilbert Scott and William Bonython Mofatt who designed many workhouses during the period. Witham is typical of the Scott and Moffat type of workhouse comprising a single-storey front block with an archway leading through to the workhouse itself. The workhouse was built of red-brick with stone dressings on an E-shaped plan. It is largely three-storey but has a four-storey octagonal central tower forming the main entrance. There was a detached infirmary erected on the south-west side of the workhouse sometime around 1901. It was of two storeys and designed on an H-shaped plan. It has since been demolished. The site was sold to the Metropolitan Asylums Board (MAB) in 1901 and was used to accommodate children suffering from the infectious condition of ringworm. This closed in 1908 and the building was adapted as a working colony for disabled male adolescents known as 'Bridge Training Home'. In 1948 it became part of the National Health Service and was renamed 'The Bridge Hospital'. The hospital closed in 2002 and the site was due to be redeveloped.

February 1973. Grade II listed. Formerly the 'Union Work house', built in 1839. A red brick building with stone dressings. The entrance gateway has a semi-circular archway with stone voussoirs and a stone pediment and is flanked by single storey wings with projecting bays at the north-east and south-east ends and pilaster treatment. Each wing is of 2:2:1 window range, double-hung sashes with glazing bars, in plain reveals with semi-circular brick arched heads and a stone string course at impost level. The main block stands back from the entrance block with a three-storey octagonal central black with alternate sides breaking forward under pediments. Each face of the block has 1 window range. A stone band runs between the upper storeys. Roof slate rising to a central cupola. Long wings extend on either side, with projecting end wings. Each wing is of 5:2 window range, double-hung sashes with glazing bars, in plain reveals. Roofs slate. <1> See photos <2>. 1998. Field survey. Erected in around 1839, the workhouse follows the designs of Scott and Moffatt and comprises a detached single-storey entrance range, a central cruciform block, infirmary and school buildings; several structures have been demolished. Facing onto Hatfield Road the single-storey entrance range has a central arch with stone voussoirs beneath a gabled pediment; wings project forwards by one bay to either side and large round headed sashes illuminate the interior. The original iron gates beside the entrance survive and doors (for each sex) provide access into the casual wards. To the rear stands the principal three-storey workhouse with a four-storey central hub surmounted by a cupola. The corners of the hub project forwards to form square bays under a gabled pediment; the windows permitting maximum supervision of the paupers in the yards. Standing either side of the main entrance the original pillars for the yard walls also survive. The three-storey wings retain both their doors and centrally pivoted casements, but the cross-wings have been altered or truncated. Extending to the rear of the central hub, the single-storey kitchen and laundry have been largely destroyed. The infirmary is of red brick, two-storeys with a hipped roof. Adopting a ‘U’ shaped plan, it has sanitary annexes on the outer sides with projecting wings to the north-east and south-west; these would have originally been linked to the cross-wings of the workhouse. A further rectangular block extending from the north-east end of the infirmary has been much altered; the rear elevations of the building have also been subject to modifications and additions. Two single-storey schools stand to the rear of the infirmary; that to the south-west was for boys, the other for girls. The former retains its central half brick, half glazed porch and is served by two stacks with opposing sash windows. The girls school has been much altered. A small single-storey building beside the boys school is of unknown function. Possibly contemporary with the nurses home, the latter was erected in 1931 on the site of a later infirmary . Several buildings shown on the 1897 Ordnance Survey map to the north-east of the workhouse have been demolished. Notable additions include an air raid shelter erected between the workhouse and entrance range. Between 1901 and 1908 the site was used by the Metropolitan Asylums Board as a school for children with ring worm. It was later converted into a working colony for handicapped and adolescent boys until it was handed over to the National Health Service in 1948. ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTENTIAL: Many of the buildings and the plan form of the site remains relatively intact. Although alterations have occurred the layout of internal spaces including room divisions, corridors and stair wells probably survives providing important social information on original use. An internal inspection needs to be undertaken at the earliest opportunity. SITE SIGNIFICANCE: Good example of a Scott and Moffatt workhouse retaining much of its integrity; the entrance block and principle range are particularly impressive and site forms an important element of the nineteenth-century built fabric of Witham. CURRENT STATUS: The entrance block and principle range are Grade II listed. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Maintain existing status. Although of insufficient merit in themselves both the infirmary and boys school form important elements of the group and should be treated as curtilage buildings. MANAGEMENT: Currently in use as a hospital the site is well maintained. If threatened by future development the entrance block, principal range, infirmary and boys school should be retained together with the entrance gates and yard wall pillars. Care needs to be taken to ensure that the spatial relationship both between and within buildings is preserved; the facade to road is also of considerable importance. Recording needs to form an integral element of any future scheme of re-use. <3> 2003. Building recording. Built in 1837-1839 following the poor law amendment act of 1834, the Witham Union workhouse was built by prodigous workhouse architects Scott and Moffat. One of two, the other its twin at Tendring, the workhouse conformed to the standard plan based on Kempthornes cruciform in a square plan. The Witham Union like Tendring but unlike later Billericay and Dunmow unions, was built, due to budgetary constraints, with minimal architectural adornment. The workhouse remained within the poor law system until its incorporation into thje NHS in 1948. In 1882 the workhouse was taken over by the South Metropolitan District School Board changing its focus to specalise in accommodating children, and then Metropolitan Asylums Board and Royal Eastern Counties Institution (1900-23) concentrating on institutional care of boys. The assessment has revealed that all the primary workhouse building, apart from features in the workrooms, walls to the exercise yards and the casual ward, have survived. Of the mian building the Entrance ranges and the masters block are particulary well preserved. Additionally the survival of the kitchen and infirmary is very unusual, to a degree that merits national importance. The Boys School room of 1892-1893 remains in a good condition. <4> NRHE data transfer: Witham Union Workhouse was built in 1839 and could accommodate 300 people. The architects were George Gilbert Scott and William Bonython Mofatt who designed many workhouses during the period. Witham is typical of the Scott and Moffat type of workhouse comprising a single-storey front block with an archway leading through to the workhouse itself. The workhouse was built of red-brick with stone dressings on an E-shaped plan. It is largely three-storey but has a four-storey octagonal central tower forming the main entrance. There was a detached infirmary erected on the south-west side of the workhouse sometime around 1901. It was of two storeys and designed on an H-shaped plan. It has since been demolished. The site was sold to the Metropolitan Asylums Board (MAB) in 1901 and was used to accommodate children suffering from the infectious condition of ringworm. This closed in 1908 and the building was adapted as a working colony for disabled male adolescents known as Bridge Training Home. In 1948 it became part of the National Health Service and was renamed The Bridge Hospital. The hospital closed in 2002 and the site was redeveloped. <5> - <7> See also <8>.