# WJ.Sanderson Hospital Gosfoth.



## BarneySchwarzenegger (Oct 5, 2007)

W.J Sanderson funded a small house for crippled and destitute children in gateshead in the late 1800's. In 1897 he opened the W.J.Sanderson hospital in Gosforth for crippled and destitute children. It became a childrens hospital and until the freeman hospital this was the main hospital for children. It closed in the 70's and was opened up to care for the elderly until its closure. I finding it hard to find out when it closed as the hospital website says its open.

Operating theatre light



Painted wall.



The gym(reminded me of school)



One of the wards



Fire Exit



Broom


​


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## Foxylady (Oct 5, 2007)

Hi BarneyS
Pity the gym mural got scrawled over a bit. Looked pretty neat otherwise. Love the broom. 

Cheers
Eileen


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## King Al (Oct 5, 2007)

Good stuff mate that Light in pic 1 looks in good nick, intresting place


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## Lightbuoy (Oct 5, 2007)

Some nice pics there  Looks a little different from the usual buildings. Was this a recent visit?
Thanks for sharing buddy!

Lb


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## BarneySchwarzenegger (Oct 5, 2007)

Lightbuoy said:


> Some nice pics there  Looks a little different from the usual buildings. Was this a recent visit?
> Thanks for sharing buddy!
> 
> Lb


The dates on pics are right mate. it was the 28th two days before the buildings 110th birthday. thanks for comments everyone


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## sarahlou (May 12, 2008)

*hi*

is inside scary as me and 3 mates are going up tonight and going inside!!!


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## **Mudlark** (May 12, 2008)

wow, looks fab but this place is a metal fortress!!!
lol!
well done for getting in 

i used to work here just before it closed, and we often had to go into the 'old building' to retrieve records and such......... i once had in my possession the biggest bunch of keys you have EVER seen that opened every door in that building...... gutted i wasnt into UE at the time or i would have had a field day!!
Some of the decorations in the wards are lovely, kinda sad that they are un occupied but lovely all the same!!!!


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## Sephiroth (Jun 23, 2008)

I used to live across the road from this hospital on North Avenue in Gosforth, Newcastle. I always meant to jump in and document some of the interior. What I do remember about this place was the weird banging noises and frequent appearances of the Group 4 security guy. The funiest time for me was when some gypos/chavs were stripping something off one of the exterior walls and dutifully lobbed some eggs at them. After which point they ran off and I phoned the police anyway afterward. The hospital itself is quite big can be easily accessed and I'm convinced they had motion sensors installed because the security guy was always out there pronto. Mind you, he used to just come and stuff his fat face with donuts! If viewed from North Avenue on the left hand side approaching Salters Road, the roof viewed from there is badly damaged. In fact I would say it won't be long before they have to do a mercy killing on the fine old building.


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## OSPA (Jun 24, 2008)

Sephiroth said:


> I used to live across the road from this hospital on North Avenue in Gosforth, Newcastle. I always meant to jump in and document some of the interior. What I do remember about this place was the weird banging noises and frequent appearances of the Group 4 security guy. The funiest time for me was when some gypos/chavs were stripping something off one of the exterior walls and dutifully lobbed some eggs at them. After which point they ran off and I phoned the police anyway afterward. The hospital itself is quite big can be easily accessed and I'm convinced they had motion sensors installed because the security guy was always out there pronto. Mind you, he used to just come and stuff his fat face with donuts! If viewed from North Avenue on the left hand side approaching Salters Road, the roof viewed from there is badly damaged. In fact I would say it won't be long before they have to do a mercy killing on the fine old building.



V. Impressed that you got in, I too live around the area (not saying exactly where) and every window is covered in metal sheets, even the upstairs ones! I would love to get in there, there has been much discussion on what to do with the place, last I heard Wimpey Homes or someone like that were going to buy it and turn it into apartments


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## Sephiroth (Jun 25, 2008)

Yeah, the metal sheets were up all the time I lived on North Avenue on the windows. There are some windows which have not been boarded and can be seen from the back next to the water tower from Salters Road. If I remember rightly, there was a pamphlet given out last year by Wimpey homes. It detailed how they wanted to build homes and flats on the site but got turned down by the council. The main reason (and a good one at that) was how the proposal was essentially an over-development of the site. Now, if anyone has seen this place it is quite big but not enough for 20 homes and 4 blocks of flats with parking! Last I heard (I moved back home in September) Wimpey had appealed against the councils decision.

http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/cab2006.nsf/allbykey/1018DC69DF0AF65D802571F000350CEF/$FILE/6.2.pdf

The rough closure date of the hospital was 1997 or early 1998 when the remaining wards for elderly care were transferred to the Newcastle General. The other third of the hospital continued on as the the Sanderson Center. It was an outpatient clinic that specialised in podiatry and other orthopedic services. It was finally closed in 2003...


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## Elvis killer (Jul 12, 2008)

Some of my pics from the same visit


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## smileysal (Jul 12, 2008)

Love the gym pic with the bars, and the operating theatre lights. It amazes me how the nhs is always moaning about lack of money for equipment etc, then you see how much equipment is left in closed hospitals etc. You'd think they'd check everything and recheck before they moved out, and take the stuff with them wouldn't you?

Cheers, good pics,

 Sal


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## xahtep (Sep 1, 2008)

I had a wander round there this weekend, been meaning to do so ever since I laid eyes on the place but didn't have anyone to go with 'til an old friend visited from Birmingham. We used to do a lot of urban exploring down there back in the day but I moved up to Newcastle a few years back.

We didn't get to see all of it as the dusty, damp atmosphere was overwhelming after a while and we weren't prepared enough for it, but had a good look around the southwest corner where the old gym and the ward with the mural is. It's a real shame to see such a once proud building in such a state. Walked past the Toy Store and headed up the stairs with the broken skylight, found some maintenance documents from 2004 (didn't know it was even open then) and some old coffee mugs.

And then, just as we were heading away from the stairs, my friend called me back. I walked over quickly to find him sitting with a fat little pigeon on his hand, stroking its head! It was completely unruffled and seemed tame as a shrew. We're guessing he's been in the hospital all his life and has never encountered a predator. Anyway, we ended up taking him back to my flat, giving it a wash, some food and a warm bed. Might put him back but it would be a shame to dump him in there again.

Also here's a map. The red area is where we visited, the yellow circle is where we found Mr Miyagi (the white square within it is the skylight, I think) and the green rectangle bounds a really nice field in the grounds that would be great to chill out in during the day and do some cloud-spotting, if no-one minded.


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## xahtep (Sep 1, 2008)

One more thing: looks like Wimpy got the go-ahead for their plans in the end. They're going to slap down 48 houses and 10 apartments on the site. 

http://gisccs013.newcastle.gov.uk/P...lication_detailview.aspx?keyval=JQ1ROBBS01I00


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## Dystopia (Sep 1, 2008)

That broom is ace!  Children's wards always have that extra creepy factor.


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## krela (Sep 1, 2008)

xahtep said:


> One more thing: looks like Wimpy got the go-ahead for their plans in the end. They're going to slap down 48 houses and 10 apartments on the site.
> 
> http://gisccs013.newcastle.gov.uk/P...lication_detailview.aspx?keyval=JQ1ROBBS01I00



I doubt it will happen any time soon with the current economic climate. There are loads of projects around here that have planning permission but have been put on hold for 18 months or more.


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## scoobs (Sep 1, 2008)

The only problem is empty buildings have to pay a tax now,so they may knock the building down sooner rather that later to avoid paying it.


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## xahtep (Sep 1, 2008)

Aye could be, an article here says Wimpey may have pulled out of the project, and one of the councillors suggested giving the building listed status instead.

http://www.aboutmyarea.co.uk/Tyne-A...-News/103408-What-next-for-Sanderson-Hospital


(I didn't get any photos of the recent excursion, but I can't resist showing you Mr Miyagi. Ain't he sweet? He's perched on my fellow explorer's shoulder, and is a bit damp 'cause we'd just waterboarded him in the shower.)


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## **Mudlark** (Sep 2, 2008)

xahtep said:


> Aye could be, an article here says Wimpey may have pulled out of the project, and one of the councillors suggested giving the building listed status instead.
> 
> http://www.aboutmyarea.co.uk/Tyne-A...-News/103408-What-next-for-Sanderson-Hospital
> 
> ...



Glad to hear they are not pulling this down, its prime real estate granted but it could be turned into flats and apartments rather than pulled down altogether, surely?

and bless, a pet pigeon? he looks like a youngster, probs why he's so tame......... either that or petrified! 
awwwwwww!! bring on the birdseed!

oh, and welcome to the forums btw!


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## PROJ3CTM4YH3M (Sep 5, 2008)

Wow, i love the broomstick! 

How olds this place? 

Em x


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## Sephiroth (Oct 2, 2008)

It was opened on the 30th September 1897... so it's 111 years old as of a few days ago! I seen some great shots of the inside of this place on 28dl... one of the pics has some pretty disgusting fungus on the walls. I have been inside and agree with the pigeon guy that the atmosphere in there is well too damp. Wear a 3m mask and be careful on the upper floors in the hospital part of the building... reason being that some folk have stolen slates from the roof and it is f$%^&d in the up stairs bits... in places...


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## OSPA (Mar 5, 2010)

Sadly, it is no more, its now a big pile of rubble


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## dave (Mar 6, 2010)

OSPA said:


> Sadly, it is no more, its now a big pile of rubble



I can confirm this too, was there last week end of Feb and watched the place being torn down.


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## OSPA (Mar 7, 2010)

Was going to pay it a late night visit but safety came to mind, it was never the safest building anyway but even less so in its half torn down state, didn't want it to end up like an episode of casualty lol


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## xahtep (Mar 7, 2010)

I'm sad to see it looking so ruined and destroyed, especially those beautiful gardens. Anyway I just had to have another look at the place before they tore it down completely, so on the weekend I paid a return visit to the site.

No problem accessing it now of course, there's massive holes torn in all the walls! It is considerably more dangerous though .. I nearly shit a brick a few times as panicking pigeons caused bits to fall off as I was nearby and inside.

I guess it'll all be rubble by the end of the week 

Hope you all enjoy the photos:


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