Description

CAMDEN

TQ2685NW NEW END
798-1/26/1192 Infirmary block and linking
corridors at former New End Hospital

GV II

Hampstead parish workhouse infirmary block. 1869-71, extended
in similar style 1878; all designed by John Giles of Messrs
Giles & Bevan. Converted for residential use 1996-98, John
Thompson Associates, architects. Yellow stock brick with brick
bands at floor levels. Hipped, low pitched slated roof.
4 storeys and basement. A long, single depth range with
attached tower to the south end and linking corridors to the
north. Segmental brick arches with stuccoed keystones to
recessed sashes. Tower has cast-iron balcony to top floor.
Linking corridors formed on a cast-iron frame of Tuscan
columns, each floor corridor of separate timber construction
and continuously glazed with 6-pane sliding sashes.
INTERIORS: plain and functional.
HISTORICAL NOTE: following a damning report on the state of
workhouses in The Lancet of July 1865 the Workhouse Infirmary
Act of 1867 insisted on the provision of separate
accommodation for sick and able-bodied paupers. A visit by the
inspecting Medical Officer to Hampstead in July 1868 had found
the available accommodation totally inadequate with some male
paupers sleeping in straw in an open shed. Steps to provide
further accommodation were immediately put in hand, that at
Hampstead one of the first and oldest surviving: the infirmary
also housed a separation ward and a lying-in ward. It was
designed in response to Florence Nightingale's reforms in
nursing and hospital design giving high, light wards which
were narrow enough to allow cross-ventilation.
The former infirmary block forms a linked group with the New
End Hospital former Workhouse Block (qv), the Circular Ward &
attached Water Tower (qv), and the Boilerhouse Chimney (qv).
It has exceptional townscape value.

Listing NGR: TQ2643185961

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q27084339

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
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  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy
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  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)