# Dudley Guest Hospital, January 2016



## TranKmasT (Jan 4, 2016)

As usual I was about a month late in getting around to seeing this since Wates took over the site. Fortunately though it was mainly just the newer building that have been demolished so far. Looks like the front end will be made into flats.
Kudos to those managed to get in earlier in 2015 before the site changed hands, although I must admit I was disappointed at the lack of pictures(but I understand why, alarms, dog units etc)
On my visit I was pleasantly surprised how much there was left to see.



The Guest Hospital, situated in Tipton Road was originally erected in 1849 by the first Earl of Dudley as an asylum to accommodate workmen blinded in his limestone workings. However, the miners rejected the Earl's charity so he granted the disused asylum, together with the grounds upon which it stood, to the trustees of a bequest amounting to £20000 by the late Joseph Guest of Dudley, for the endowment of a hospital.

At his own expense, Lord Dudley rearranged and altered the building from designs by the late architect, William Bourne. In 1892, a fever block was opened. The hospital received over £70000 under the Will of the late Hugh Lewis who died in 1908. He lived in Sutton Coldfield but was formerly of Tipton. A new eye infirmary and surgical out-door department were built on land adjoining the hospital in 1915-16 at a cost of approximately £10000.


Black Country Genealogy & Family History



In 1908, Tipton pawnbroker Hugh Lewis left his entire estate of £80,000 to the hospital.[4]

Most of the hospital was rebuilt between 1929 and 1939, on the far side not visible from Tipton Road, though part of these new buildings were visible from Birmingham New Road which opened in 1927 and allowed for a second vehicular access point (which was closed in the 1990s).[5] A new pre-fabricated timber/plaster board annex was added in the 1960s, and survived until the hospital's closure.[6]

The hospital's accident and emergency department closed in the spring of 1984 and was relocated to the new Russells Hall Hospital. Around this time, fears were rife in the local area that Dudley Guest Hospital was on the verge of closure, but the opening of a new hydrotherapy pool and physiotherapy department in 1986 appeared to silence these fears. However, National Health Service officials announced in July 1990 that they were considering closing the hospital (along with nearby Burton Road Hospital, which ultimately closed in December 1993) and expanding Russells Hall to accommodate replacement facilities, but the hospital survived another 17 years.

The former nurse's home at the hospital was demolished in 1996.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dudley_Guest_Hospital










































































































Inside one of the rooms of this service tunnel were some old x-rays, unfortunately too perished to make sense of.






This mannequin spooked me for a nanosecond, seeing it in the window on the top floor as I entered the building from below.

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## krela (Jan 5, 2016)

Quality photography as always Trankmast. Thanks.


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## smiler (Jan 5, 2016)

krela said:


> Quality photography as always Trankmast. Thanks.



Yes, great photography, Thanks


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## flyboys90 (Jan 5, 2016)

I didn't expect it to be so clean!Smashing set of shots.


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## urban-dorset (Jan 5, 2016)

Great set of photos.


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## Rubex (Jan 5, 2016)

Absolutely amazing  great photos and report! I love the last shot


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## Sam Haltin (Jan 5, 2016)

An excellent post and a good write-up as always from you.


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## TheNarrator (Jan 5, 2016)

Absolutely fantastic! And the place doesn't look in too bad a condition


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## ExploringwithAKE (Jan 6, 2016)

So pretty, thanks for sharing


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## UrbanX (Jan 7, 2016)

Looks like you made it at just the right time, perfect amount of peelage too! 
As everyone else has said, fantastic photography. Thanks for sharing


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## The Wombat (Jan 8, 2016)

Completely untouched by the yobs
Looks a great explore, and excellent photos


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## TranKmasT (Jan 8, 2016)

The Wombat said:


> Completely untouched by the yobs
> Looks a great explore, and excellent photos



Cheers Wombat, and everyone else for there comments.


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