Holborn Union, Archway, London - December 2022
My last explore of the year? Not sure, but when I do explore this late in the year; I tend to don my Red Santa hat for my photos just in case its the last chance before Christmas.
It was a freezing weekend, just before the snow fell on the South East of the UK, I had failed to get into the Wilton Park Tower Block the evening before, but got some lovely frosty shots of it! It’s not often I get a weekend off work, and I work in Central London, so did whatever any insane person does, and used their time off work, to go into London….
I treated myself to the local train service from my home town (a luxury I just CANNOT afford on a day to day basis, and make a saving of £40 by driving 20 miles to a tube station each work day) and made a slow journey to Archway.
I’d seen this place come up on the forums, and on a Facebook Group (one of the “gift that keeps giving” pages) and thought that its fairly local, I’ve got the day off and I’ll give it a go.
I ended up walking around the grounds and taking it all in, before entry. I don’t really like night time exploring, but I ended being a bit late and getting in as it was getting dark. No bother, this made for some lovely shots!
Spent 2-3 hours inside, and went for dinner, a little mucky and like I’d been walking through a derp, at Archway Kebab. 100% recommend, best kebab I’ve had in ages!
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Before The NHS and Social Security; this site was a workhouse and infirmary for some very vulnerable Victorians. A new "poor law" was introduced in 1834 reducing the costs of looking after poorer people and taking homeless people off the streets.
Inmates at the Workhouse, would be fed and provided with clothes; with children getting limited access to education. The Holborn Union Infirmary, (which is now has its own Conservation Area), included long, airy "Nightingale" style wards with windows on each side to create a through-draught; a design influenced by the works of Florence Nightingale, who wrote in her 1860 Notes on Nursing: "Always air from the air without, and that, too, through those windows through which the air comes freshest. From a closed court, especially if the wind do not blow that way, air may come as stagnant as any from a hall or corridor."
The Clerkenwell and Islington Guide “Oonagh Gay” takes groups around Archway and talks them through the history of the workhouses that once operated in the area. “A number of unions, including Holborn, brought up land around Archway because it was cheap. Because land was cheap they could sort of export the problem - Holborn is nowhere near Islington but they could build easily there. It's a bit like some councils shipping homeless people to places like Northamptonshire today. They would have been reasonably grim places but not awful because people couldn't work and they tried to contain diseases there."
In 1921, The Archway Road infirmary was renamed the Holborn and Finsbury Hospital, before The London County Council changed the name once again to “The Archway Hospital in 1930”.
When the NHS was founded in the 1940s; the site was merged with St Mary's Hospital, in Highgate Hill, and Highgate Hospital, in Dartmouth Park Hill, to create the Whittington Hospital as its known today.
The Holborn Union Infirmary which we see here, opened in 1879 on Archway Road, Highgate. The four-storey building contained 625 beds, with Female Wards at the south part and Male Wards at the north. A recreation area at the back of the Infirmary was divided across the centre to keep the sexes apart.
The site includes a two-storey block on the east of the site which contained Receiving Wards, a Doctor's Residence and a Dispensary.
In 1912 the Nursing Staff Quarters were extended at the Southern End of the site. By 1928 the Hospital took over The Furnival House Building in Cholmeley Park for use as a Nurses' Home. In 1930, following the abolition of the Boards of Guardians, the Hospital came under the control of the LCC, who renamed it The Archway Hospital. By 1948, when The NHS was created, Archway had merged with St Mary's Hospital which is situated across the road in Highgate Hill, and the Highgate Hospital in Dartmouth Park Road.
Eventually, the three Hospitals became the Whittington Hospital and The Archway Hospital became the Archway Wing, which contained 416 beds. In 1977 the Whittington Hospital, under the North London Group Hospital Management Committee which had just under 2000 beds.
In 1998 The Archway Wing of the Whittington Hospital was sold by The NHS and jointly purchased by University College London and Middlesex University. In 2008 The Hospital building still survives and was operated as The Archway Campus, an Education and Research facility for Health-Related professionals, which opened in 1999, explaining the modern beds and equipment in some of its wards.
The Archway Campus closed in August 2013 and the site has been sold to Peabody for redevelopment in 2014, some time in the past, it was used as Residential Accommodation by a company supplying Property Guardians seeking a cheap place to live. Imagine living in an abandoned hospital!
History borrowed and restructured for my own report, from @RXQueen ‘s report.
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Thanks All, More at:
My last explore of the year? Not sure, but when I do explore this late in the year; I tend to don my Red Santa hat for my photos just in case its the last chance before Christmas.
It was a freezing weekend, just before the snow fell on the South East of the UK, I had failed to get into the Wilton Park Tower Block the evening before, but got some lovely frosty shots of it! It’s not often I get a weekend off work, and I work in Central London, so did whatever any insane person does, and used their time off work, to go into London….
I treated myself to the local train service from my home town (a luxury I just CANNOT afford on a day to day basis, and make a saving of £40 by driving 20 miles to a tube station each work day) and made a slow journey to Archway.
I’d seen this place come up on the forums, and on a Facebook Group (one of the “gift that keeps giving” pages) and thought that its fairly local, I’ve got the day off and I’ll give it a go.
I ended up walking around the grounds and taking it all in, before entry. I don’t really like night time exploring, but I ended being a bit late and getting in as it was getting dark. No bother, this made for some lovely shots!
Spent 2-3 hours inside, and went for dinner, a little mucky and like I’d been walking through a derp, at Archway Kebab. 100% recommend, best kebab I’ve had in ages!
-
Before The NHS and Social Security; this site was a workhouse and infirmary for some very vulnerable Victorians. A new "poor law" was introduced in 1834 reducing the costs of looking after poorer people and taking homeless people off the streets.
Inmates at the Workhouse, would be fed and provided with clothes; with children getting limited access to education. The Holborn Union Infirmary, (which is now has its own Conservation Area), included long, airy "Nightingale" style wards with windows on each side to create a through-draught; a design influenced by the works of Florence Nightingale, who wrote in her 1860 Notes on Nursing: "Always air from the air without, and that, too, through those windows through which the air comes freshest. From a closed court, especially if the wind do not blow that way, air may come as stagnant as any from a hall or corridor."
The Clerkenwell and Islington Guide “Oonagh Gay” takes groups around Archway and talks them through the history of the workhouses that once operated in the area. “A number of unions, including Holborn, brought up land around Archway because it was cheap. Because land was cheap they could sort of export the problem - Holborn is nowhere near Islington but they could build easily there. It's a bit like some councils shipping homeless people to places like Northamptonshire today. They would have been reasonably grim places but not awful because people couldn't work and they tried to contain diseases there."
In 1921, The Archway Road infirmary was renamed the Holborn and Finsbury Hospital, before The London County Council changed the name once again to “The Archway Hospital in 1930”.
When the NHS was founded in the 1940s; the site was merged with St Mary's Hospital, in Highgate Hill, and Highgate Hospital, in Dartmouth Park Hill, to create the Whittington Hospital as its known today.
The Holborn Union Infirmary which we see here, opened in 1879 on Archway Road, Highgate. The four-storey building contained 625 beds, with Female Wards at the south part and Male Wards at the north. A recreation area at the back of the Infirmary was divided across the centre to keep the sexes apart.
The site includes a two-storey block on the east of the site which contained Receiving Wards, a Doctor's Residence and a Dispensary.
In 1912 the Nursing Staff Quarters were extended at the Southern End of the site. By 1928 the Hospital took over The Furnival House Building in Cholmeley Park for use as a Nurses' Home. In 1930, following the abolition of the Boards of Guardians, the Hospital came under the control of the LCC, who renamed it The Archway Hospital. By 1948, when The NHS was created, Archway had merged with St Mary's Hospital which is situated across the road in Highgate Hill, and the Highgate Hospital in Dartmouth Park Road.
Eventually, the three Hospitals became the Whittington Hospital and The Archway Hospital became the Archway Wing, which contained 416 beds. In 1977 the Whittington Hospital, under the North London Group Hospital Management Committee which had just under 2000 beds.
In 1998 The Archway Wing of the Whittington Hospital was sold by The NHS and jointly purchased by University College London and Middlesex University. In 2008 The Hospital building still survives and was operated as The Archway Campus, an Education and Research facility for Health-Related professionals, which opened in 1999, explaining the modern beds and equipment in some of its wards.
The Archway Campus closed in August 2013 and the site has been sold to Peabody for redevelopment in 2014, some time in the past, it was used as Residential Accommodation by a company supplying Property Guardians seeking a cheap place to live. Imagine living in an abandoned hospital!
History borrowed and restructured for my own report, from @RXQueen ‘s report.
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
#11
#12
#13
#14
#15
#16
#17
#18
#19
#20
#21
#22
Thanks All, More at:
