[caption id="attachment_3003" align="aligncenter" width="960"] 1953[/caption] [caption id="attachment_3004" align="alignright" width="452"] 1901 Map[/caption] This was originally the Northampton Union Workhouse Wellingborough Road, built in 1836 by G.
Gilbert Scott to house up to 300 inmates.
The main workhouse building had a cruciform layout as shown in this 1901 map.
A male infirmary was added in 1869, the school in 1872, a smallpox hospital in 1882 and a nurses home in 1897.
After the workhouse was taken over by the Northampton Borough Council in 1930 the Infirmary was renamed St Edmund’s Hospital.
The buildings were out of date according to modern ideas and consisted of two long three-storey blocks, one for men and the other for women and children, offering accommodation for 188 beds.
Attached to the women’s infirmary was a maternity ward with 8 beds.
Both male and female infirmaries were old and badly planned, being without lifts or an operating theatre, but the buildings were in a good state of repair despite their age.
It was agreed that although the infirmary could not be used for acute cases, its antiquated design and equipment was not of vital importance and could be improved, but the nurses’ home was really inadequate.
Consequently, the nurses’ home was enlarged and a lift fitted to each block of the infirmary.
[caption id="attachment_3005" align="aligncenter" width="960"] Old Men's ward, circa 1938[/caption] The G.
P.
led maternity unit was very popular and was used during WW2 as an emergency maternity unit for pregnant evacuees.
However, the stigma of the workhouse lasted and the elderly were often upset to be cared for there.
St Edmund’s Hospital functioned alongside the General Hospital until its closure in 1998.
It had been decided that it would be better for the care of the elderly to be moved to the NGH site with all of its facilities at hand.
In preparation for this project to take place, Crockett Block and Nissen Ward ( latterly named Pitt’s Ward) were knocked down and the new unit erected.
It took two years to complete and included two 27 bed wards (Holcot and Brampton), a day hospital, a stroke unit and physiotherapy, occupational and speech therapy clinics.
Completion was slightly delayed, finally taking place in 1999, and the Centre for Elderly Medicine was officially opened on 16th June 1999 by Professor John Grimley Evans, an expert in medicine for the elderly who was based at Oxford University.
He declared that this £4.6 million unit was one of the best of its kind in the country.
The symbolic laurel leaf detail running through the reception area is used to represent triumph, perseverance, peace and protection.
Julia Corps.
Volunteer at NGH History Archive