The Towers Hospital was a mental health facility in Humberstone, Leicestershire, England. The administration building, which became known as George Hine House, is a Grade II listed building.[1]
| Towers Hospital | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Original main block with superintendent's residence above, Towers Hospital | |
  Shown in Leicestershire | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Humberstone, Leicestershire, England |
| Coordinates | 52°38′59″N 1°05′28″W / 52.6498°N 1.0911°W |
| Organisation | |
| Care system | NHS |
| Type | Specialist |
| Services | |
| Emergency department | N/A |
| Speciality | Psychiatric Hospital |
| History | |
| Opened | 1869 |
| Closed | 2013 |
| Links | |
| Lists | Hospitals in England |
History
editBroadbent ownership
editThe site chosen for the hospital had previously been occupied by Victoria House, the former home of Benjamin Broadbent, a master builder.[2] He built a house on the site in the late 1850s, and moved in in early 1860.[3] Following his death in 1862, his son Benjamin Jr. sold the house and 30 acres of land to the Leicestershire Council for £8,000. The house had to be demolished due to dry rot, and the grounds were used for the Leicester Towers Hospital.[2]
The Hospital
editThe hospital, which was designed by Edward Loney Stephens using a corridor layout with compact arrow additions, opened as the Leicester Borough Lunatic Asylum in September 1869.[4] An extension to the male ward, designed by George Thomas Hine, was completed in 1883 and a corresponding extension to the female ward, also designed by Hine, was completed in 1890.[4] A bath house, also designed by Hine, was added in 1913.[4] The facility became the Leicester City Mental Hospital in the 1920s.[4] Three detached villa properties, built in the 1930s, were made available to the Emergency Medical Service during the Second World War.[4] The facility joined the National Health Service as the Towers Hospital in 1948.[5]
After the introduction of Care in the Community in the early 1980s, the hospital went into a period of decline and closed in April 2013.[4] The administration building, which became known as George Hine House, was converted for use as a Sikh free school in 2014.[6] Several of the other buildings, including the original main block with superintendent's residence above, have been redeveloped for residential use.[4]
References
edit- ^ Historic England. "Former Towers Hospital (1376811)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
- ^ a b "The Early Years". Leicestershire County Council. 12 August 2013. Archived from the original on 8 September 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
- ^ "The Broadbents". www.reginaldstanley.com. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Towers Hospital". County Asylums. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
- ^ "Towers Hospital". National Archives. Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
- ^ "George Hine House to become Leicester Sikh free school". BBC. 30 December 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2019.