Demolition at West Park Hospital

Image: © Stefan Czapski Taken: 19 Jan 2012

The old mental hospital occupied a substantial acreage, but the majority of the buildings had been demolished by the time this shot was taken. Most were two-storey red-brick structures dating from the 1920's or '30's. entirely institutional in style. The structure seen here is marked on the map as a chimney. To me it looks like the sort of tower which was once characteristic of old-fashioned laundries. The bench in the foreground stands outside the Meadows Day Clinic, which offers monitoring and support for patients with dementia. I remember sitting here one summer's day a few years ago with my late step-father, then in his nineties. The hospital site is currently being redeveloped for housing. Some of the old red-brick ward buildings will be retained and converted, but much of the area will be covered by 'new-build'.

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