After seeing other reports on this place (skeleton keys report has a good history so couldn’t really say much more!) I thought I’d had better get down there before the work starts redeveloping it, unless the developers pull one of their usual stunts and the place mysteriously gets burnt to the ground thus rendering in their favour, a total new build.
There is really only one reason to go and that’s the great staircase, the rest of the small building is just a couple of corridors, it’s just one lonely remaining block at the side of an expanding building site.
Sadly virtually not very much has escaped the ruthless planning authorities destroying our architectural heritage, despite local oppositions, most of the hospital/workhouses have been pulled down. There are a couple of surviving buildings that must have given the new developers a bit of a headache as they try to “sympathically incorporate them into their new designs”.
Even though there isn’t much left to see, it was still worth the visit as Oldchurch Hospital originated from the Romford Union workhouse, which had been built during 1838 to the southwest of Romford. The hospital operated from 1929 through to its closure in 2006, patients moved to the nearby Queens Hospital, which must be pretty busy now as it also took on Harold Woods patients when that also closed down. So here’s a few shots of what’s left...
This is the only remaining block....there are a couple of other blocks that have survived demolition which have now been developed into apartments on the opposite side of the site.
Corridor with small bedrooms off to the left/right.
It was here my old canon 20d started to play up, I was getting some strange meter readings on AV so had to use manual, which I gota admit took me a few shots to remember what to do!
View from one of the small bedrooms, the new buildings are growing fast.
Thanks for lookin folks
There is really only one reason to go and that’s the great staircase, the rest of the small building is just a couple of corridors, it’s just one lonely remaining block at the side of an expanding building site.
Sadly virtually not very much has escaped the ruthless planning authorities destroying our architectural heritage, despite local oppositions, most of the hospital/workhouses have been pulled down. There are a couple of surviving buildings that must have given the new developers a bit of a headache as they try to “sympathically incorporate them into their new designs”.
Even though there isn’t much left to see, it was still worth the visit as Oldchurch Hospital originated from the Romford Union workhouse, which had been built during 1838 to the southwest of Romford. The hospital operated from 1929 through to its closure in 2006, patients moved to the nearby Queens Hospital, which must be pretty busy now as it also took on Harold Woods patients when that also closed down. So here’s a few shots of what’s left...
This is the only remaining block....there are a couple of other blocks that have survived demolition which have now been developed into apartments on the opposite side of the site.
Corridor with small bedrooms off to the left/right.
It was here my old canon 20d started to play up, I was getting some strange meter readings on AV so had to use manual, which I gota admit took me a few shots to remember what to do!
View from one of the small bedrooms, the new buildings are growing fast.
Thanks for lookin folks
