Newcastle General Hospital (NGH) was for many years the main hospital for the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and is managed by Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It was also the place that yours truly entered this earth way back in the midst of time.
In 1839 the Newcastle Board of Guardians decided to build a Union Workhouse on Westgate Hill to centralise facilities for Newcastle's poor. The first buildings to be completed were the Administration Block, a school for children and the workhouse which was to give accommodation to the able-bodied poor and care for the sick poor, maternity cases and imbeciles. By 1859 it had become apparent that facilities for the sick were most undesirable and so the Board of Guardians gave the go-ahead for a separate hospital to be built. The hospital was designed by the Newcastle architect Septimus Oswald and was officially opened on 7 December 1870 by Thomas Ridley, Chairman of the Board of Guardians. By 1914, much development had taken place providing about 500 beds in 5 buildings. In 1921 a separate hospital administration was set up and it was renamed Wingrove Hospital. In 1930 under the new Local Government Act it was handed over to the City Council and the name changed to The General Hospital.
In recent years services such as cancer treatment and accident and emergency have been transferred from the General to the more modern RVI and Freeman Hospitals. Plans are now underway to develop the site into a Campus for Ageing and Vitality in association with Newcastle University.
Having a wander around the hospital site in 2011, the buildings were a mish-mash of all types and ages but the most picturesque buildings were at the front of the site visible from Westgate Road which is why most of the photos published here concentrate on that part of the site. I also discovered that the construction of the Campus for Ageing and Vitality buildings were already well underway and a photo of that building features further down this page.
A further visit in 2023 showed many more demolitions including the lovely old Occupational Health building which was replaced with the Westgate Cataract Centre. Where I can, I used the site map photograph from my 2011 visit to try to put names on the remaining buildings.
Another visit in June 2024 saw not much change but it looks like the demolition was getting underway. A last chance to get as close as I could to some of the older buildings.
Description courtesy of The Hospital Records Database.
June 2024
Former Intensive Care Building.
Former Childrens Out-Patient Department?
Former N.C.C.T. Building.
Former Regional Medical Physics Building.
Cherryburn.
Former Neurosciences Department?
Former Fracture Clinic.
Former Visitor Accomodation Block.
Former Accident & Emergency.
Panoramic photographs.
19th August 2023
West Road Entrance.
Main Entrance.
Former Accident & Emergency.
The part of the hospital I remember the most due to frequent visits as a child.
Westgate Walk-In Centre, formerly Young People's Unit.
Shown on Ordnance Survey first edition map as Elswick Grange. House, now part of Newcastle General Hospital. Early to mid 19th century. Sandstone ashlar; Welsh slate roof. Basement and 2 storeys. 4 steps up to central part-glazed 6-panelled door in Tuscan porch; plain sashes in architraves have cornices on ground floor and projecting sills on first floor. Giant end pilasters with incised panel. Low-pitched hipped roof has 2 corniced ridge chimneys. Flat-coped dwarf walls steps to porch.
Grade 2 Listed. Source: Sitelines
Westgate Cataract Centre.
Former Childrens Community Services Building.
Former Speech Therapy Building.
Former Intensive Care Building.
On the right of this panoramic photograph
Former Visitor Accomodation Block.
Former Fracture Clinic.
Former Neurosciences Department?
Former Childrens Out-Patient Department?
Wingrove Road Entrances.
2011 Sitemap Photograph.
17th January 2011
Childrens Community Services Building.
Main Entrance.
Former Accident & Emergency.
Patient Information Building.
Former Intensive Care Building.
Occupational Health Building?
Campus for Ageing and Vitality Construction.
The Campus For Ageing & Vitality virtual tour.
More Information:
- Sitelines: General Hospital, workhouse building
- Sitelines: Union Workhouse (General Hospital)
- Sitelines: Westgate Road, Young People's Unit
- Sitelines: Westgate Road, Lunatic Asylum
- Sitelines: Newcastle General Hospital, vagrant ward
- National Archives: The General Hospital
- BBC Tyne: Newcastle General Hospital closes its doors(video)
- Newcastle Health Trust: Campus for Ageing and Vitality
- Wikipedia: The General Hospital
- Co-Curate: The General Hospital
- Historic England: Newcastle General Hospital Young People's Unit and Dwarf Walls
- 28 Days Later: Newcastle General Admin Block, December 2018 and March 2020
See my other photos around The General Hospital:
5 comments:
not living in Newcastle for many years I was very disappointed to see that the hospital I had done my nurse training at was no longer there it was an excellent hospital in which to train it was lovely to see the photos posted and brought back many happy memories I wanted to walk down the main corridor like the many times I have done so in the past and was very disappointed not to be able to do so
I'm also sorry to see it go as that is where I was born back in '72.
I was at that hospital from 13 Jan 88 till 7 July 88 for cancer treatment then went for check ups for 11 years great hospital and staff xx
I was born there in 1943 and my daughter in 1969. I trained there as a nurse, qualifying in 1961. I met my husband on ward 19 (the nurse / patient scenario). great times and so sorry to see it go.
I too trained as a nurse there, from January 1977 to 1980. An excellent hospital to train at, and I worked there on Gynae until leaving to do health visitor training. Wonderful memories.
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