St. John's Hospital on Wood Street in Chelmsford, Essex came about after the introduction of the Poor Law Amendment in 1834. With a newly vacated army barracks just outside the town centre, the then Chelmsford council was very well placed to set up a Workhouse. In 1886, most of the site was destroyed by fire, but the workhouse was rebuilt using some of the original structures. It was built in a forced (by the sloping site) Pavillion-plan style, to force the segregation of 'inmates'. As with most hospitals it has an administration block with a long corridor running east to west connecting all of the wards. It is believed that there may have been an infectious disease block on the site. Most of what people know today as St. John's Hospital was built in 1926, and it certainly has the very utilitarian look of inter-war architecture. That is very apparent in the main maternity building, a tall (three or four story) block entirely given over to obstetrics and maternity care.

Later in the 20th Century more buildings were erected further up the site. These have taken the shape of single story white buildings which, from the outside, look like a Prisoner of War camp. However, from experience as a surgical inpatient at St. John's, they function very well as wards even in a hot summer.

The current plan is to close St. John's (despite local opposition as a vast proportion of Chelmsford and Essex's population were born there) and move all of the services to Broomfield, on the other side of Chelmsford. In all likelihood the site will be demolished and turned into housing. As there are no listed buildings on the site, and the only archaeological significance being the Napoleonic barracks underneath the original workhouse, there is little stopping a developer doing as they wish with the site.

It is unfortunate that within a few years this hospital will no longer be extant. Despite local resident and staff opposition the move to Broomfield will take place. St. John's is a warm, welcoming hospital with a vast history. The staff are warm and welcoming, and the wards even feel homely (including those in the prisoner of war style buildings). But, as the Labour Government pushes ever further with their desperate "modernisation" of the NHS which is actually destroying what the NHS was originally about - a health service welcoming and accessible by all - St. John's will disappear into just another bit of almost-forgotten history.

If you know anymore, were a patient or worked at St. John's, I would love to hear from you. Please drop me a line inmyown[at]borrowed-heaven[dot]net. Don't forget to replace the [at] with @ and [dot] with a .

Now, on to the Photos.