Former Bevendean Hospital Gates, Bevendean Road, Brighton

Image: © Simon Carey Taken: 11 Oct 2015

The gates date from around 1900 and along with the two lodges that flank them are the only surviving parts of Bevendean Hospital. Built as an isolation hospital in 1881 during the outbreak of a smallpox epidemic the original buildings were wooden and thrown up quickly. By the 1890s they had come to the end of their working life and were subsequently replaced in 1898 by new stone buildings which included the gates. A further two wings were added between 1902-1905. It operated primarily as an isolation hospital until 1948 when it became part of the National Health Service though ironically it was isolated during part of 1951 following a local smallpox outbreak. The hospital's last years were spent mainly caring for psychiatric and geriatric patients and was closed to in-patients in April 1989 and for good in September 1990 after which the buildings were demolished. See http://www.bygones.org.uk/images/uploaded/scaled/Bevendean_Hospital41.jpg for an aerial image of the hospital.

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