19th century cottage hospital, Halstead Hospital, Hedingham Road (EHER 15637)

A mid Victorian cottage hospital with important associations with the Courtauld Family.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Cottage hospital of 1883-4, designed by George Sherrin in Queen Anne style. Built of red brick with a tiled roof and open timber gables, there was a detached laundry and mortuary to the rear. <1> 1999. Survey. Constructed in 1884 to the designs prepared by architect Mr. George Sherrin at a cost of £1,500, the cottage hospital was built under the instruction of local philanthropist and textile magnet Mr. George Courtauld Esq. in memory of his recently deceased wife. The hospital provided accommodation for four men, four women and one child with a small mortuary and laundry to the rear; these have both been demolished. The original cottage hospital was T-shaped in plan with a main west-facing facade and an east-west range extending to the rear. Built of red bricks in the Queen Anne Style, the hospital is of 1½-storeys and 11 bays, the two northern-most bays being set back. Covered with clay tiles, plain ridge bonnets and terracotta finials, most of the roof-line is hipped, but the northern two bays contain a gablet. The roadside facade has a mock open timber gable with a dedication inscribed onto the tie-beam over the heads of the first-floor windows to the late wife of G. Courtauld 'In Memorium S.L.C 1884'. Built to either side of this projection, and to provide adequate ventilation to the wards below, are small double pitched ventilation dormers with timber louvres. Situated centrally in the nine-bay range is a three-bay recessed porch with a central (replaced) door. The windows are all vertical sliding sashes with segmental heads, moulded stone sills and brick aprons beneath. A wall plinth with chamfered brick copings extends around the building and small ventilation ducts with cast-iron grills have been built at ground-floor level in each bay. A free-standing single-storey out-patients department was erected to the south in 1920; designed by T.W. Cressall it adopts a similar architectural style. Built of red brick in stretcher bond, the building was originally seven bays long with a central gabled one-bay projection. Mock open-timber work in a herring-bone pattern together with an inscription dedicated to George Courtauld, 'In Memorium G.C. 1920' is present on the gable. Additions include a single-storey extension to the northern ward of the main hospital block, a three-bay addition to the out-patients department and a small hipped-roof sanitary annexe on the south side of the south ward. Site Assessment: The site remains relatively intact with few later additions to the fabric and the internal spatial configuration including ward layout, corridors, stairwells and administrative areas probably survives. These will provide important information on the organisation, operation and segregation within the building. Recommended for Listing Garde II. Site Significance: A fine example of a mid-Victorian cottage hospital with important associations with the Courtauld family who provided many public buildings within the immediate area. Of the nine sites identified during the survey, this building retains a good range of features and is one of three purpose-built cottage hospitals that have been recommended for possible statutory protection (SMR Nos. 15641 and 15645). Site Management: Currently a working hospital and well maintained, an internal inspection should be undertaken at the earliest opportunity to assess the survival of contemporary spaces/fixtures/fittings. Prior to any future works an ‘impact assessment’ may be needed to assess which elements of the original fabric warrant retention and detailed recording needs to form an integral element of any development proposal. <2> For full history of the hospital see booklet by Adrian Corder-Birch. <3>