The former Peel Hospital near Galashiels

Image: © Walter Baxter Taken: 23 Oct 1987

In 1939 Lord Craigmyle handed over Peel House and its grounds on trust to be used as a hospital for service patients. Peel Hospital was built as an emergency medical service hospital and after the war, in 1948 when the NHS came into being, the hospital was used for the treatment of civilian patients. Permission was also granted to set up a training school for nurses. The hospital consisted of the mansion house which acted as a medical and senior nursing staff residency, dining room, kitchen and recreation area, and a number of standard wooden war time huts used as wards and support service areas. In 1973 the hospital had 216 beds. This photo taken from the Laboratory roof shows Ward 4 in the right foreground with the Outpatients and Emergency Department to the left. The tall chimney on the far right is from the steam boiler house. As a member of the Borders Health Board Estates Department team, I was involved in upgrading works to many of the wards and ancillary buildings between 1978 and 1987. The Peel site was closed in April 1988 and all services transferred to the new Borders General Hospital at Huntlyburn in Melrose Image A private housing scheme now occupies the former Peel Hospital site. On 30th March 2008 a commemorative stone was unveiled at the entrance to the former hospital Image

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