The Military Hospital and Ordnance Depot
An early photograph of the Military Hospital from Fulford Road. The farm carts suggest this was taken before Hospital Fields was incorporated into the Ordnance Depot.
Photograph from the Geoff Shearsmith Collection
On the west side of the Fulford Road opposite Imphal Barracks, was another part of York's military history that has almost disappeared; the huge Military Hospital and the sprawling Ordnance Depot. While the hospital has completely gone, the staff accommodation buildings survive in Ordnance Lane (although most will soon be demolished) and some of the Ordnance Depot buildings have modern uses.
A brief history of the hospital is described in 'The barracks', A History of the County of York: the City of York (1961), which states that it was built in 1854, although another source states 1862. There was originally a hospital in the far corner of the Cavalry barracks, but this was very small and could only take about 20 patients and this was demolished in 1862.
According to the Rev. Caesar Caine writing in 1893 in his magnificent 'Martial Annals of York', "the hospital was once attached to the Cavalry Barracks, but in recent years new hospital buildings were built on the opposite side of the road. These premises were enlarged in 1878. There is accommodation for upwards of 100 patients, a barrack room for twenty men of the Army hospital Corps, and every other adjunct calculated to perfect the utility of so necessary an institution".
The photo above is the earliest we have found (kindly reproduced from the collection of FFH member Geoffrey Shearsmith), which shows the full length of the hospital and smoke coming out of the chimneys. Most of the building is quite plain but the single story extension visible here has some more elegant features; this may be the enlargement of 1878.
It is interesting to note in the foreground the agricultural vehicles and the clear ridge & furrow in the field, which slopes gently down to the Ouse on the left. The present Hospital Fields Road is somewhere in the foreground of this picture which looks like it has been taken from the Fulford Road looking NW. There is also a photo from 1888 from the other side of the building in the Francis Frith collection.
A brief history of the hospital is described in 'The barracks', A History of the County of York: the City of York (1961), which states that it was built in 1854, although another source states 1862. There was originally a hospital in the far corner of the Cavalry barracks, but this was very small and could only take about 20 patients and this was demolished in 1862.
According to the Rev. Caesar Caine writing in 1893 in his magnificent 'Martial Annals of York', "the hospital was once attached to the Cavalry Barracks, but in recent years new hospital buildings were built on the opposite side of the road. These premises were enlarged in 1878. There is accommodation for upwards of 100 patients, a barrack room for twenty men of the Army hospital Corps, and every other adjunct calculated to perfect the utility of so necessary an institution".
The photo above is the earliest we have found (kindly reproduced from the collection of FFH member Geoffrey Shearsmith), which shows the full length of the hospital and smoke coming out of the chimneys. Most of the building is quite plain but the single story extension visible here has some more elegant features; this may be the enlargement of 1878.
It is interesting to note in the foreground the agricultural vehicles and the clear ridge & furrow in the field, which slopes gently down to the Ouse on the left. The present Hospital Fields Road is somewhere in the foreground of this picture which looks like it has been taken from the Fulford Road looking NW. There is also a photo from 1888 from the other side of the building in the Francis Frith collection.
The Military Hospital
Soldiers on the Ordnance training ground with the hospital in the background. From the GH Thomas collection.
This picture is later than the one above and there is a large building in the foreground which is part of the Ordnance Department. Note the tents in the field in front of the hospital, possibly for the soldiers who are receiving training.
The terrace of tall houses in the rear left behind the hospital are those of Wenlock Terrace, built for Officers with servant accommodation in the attics and basements and stables around the corner in Ambrose Street (named after the Fishergate property developer Ambrose Walker).
The site developed further in the 20th century and became a major hospital and this more recent history has been documented by Katherine Webb in her excellent book "From county hospital to NHS Trust: the history and archives of NHS hospitals, service and management in York, 1740-2000" published through the Borthwick Institute at the University of York.
Four blocks of married quarters, known as Hospital Fields, were built near the hospital in 1924.
Following the creation of the NHS, a civilian wing was opened in the 1950s with one large ward and an operating theatre. Later two more wards opened providing about 60 beds. It continued to be used by the Army until 1958 when it was then run solely as a NHS civilian hospital with medical and surgical wards.
The hospital finally closed on the 4th December 1976, following the opening of York's NHS hospital in Wiggington Road, and this huge old military hospital was demolished. But it is immortalised in the street name, Hospital Fields Road. Some of the Ordnance Depot buildings remain, including the Headquarters Offices, which are now occupied by Cycle Heaven.
Ordnance Lane also remains, along with the former housing for hospital staff, but all the smaller houses will soon be demolished to make way for a housing scheme by City of York Council.
Does anybody remember the hospital? Do you have memories, pictures or documents?
Please contact us if you do.
One website reader, Sally White, contacted FFH to tell of her Grandfather's cousin, Ethel St Quintin, who was Matron of the Military Hospital in the late 1920s. Ethel was born in Lewisham in 1877 and trained at St Bartholomew's Hospital. In 1904 she joined Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service and became a Sister in 1912. She served in France during the Great War and in 1917 the King presented her with the Royal Red Cross Medal, First Class. After the war she worked in Egypt and Hong Kong, where she was Supervising Matron at the British Military Hospital. Returning to England in the late 1920s, Ethel St Quintin was appointed Matron at the Military Hospital and is recorded in the Electoral Register as living at the Hermitage, a nurses house adjacent to Ousefield House in Fulford Road. A predecessor as Matron, Sarah Wilshaw, is recorded at Hermitage in the 1911 census, along with three Staff Nurses, a Cook and a Housemaid.
Edward (Ted) Lee [ 23446992 pte RAMC ] contacted FFH to say that he was posted to the York Military Hospital in March 1958, where he was I/C Bedding Store. Nursing Orderly 3 Captain Wood was QM I/C and he also remembered Staff Sergeant Smith. Ted says it was a good place to work with lots of happy times!
The terrace of tall houses in the rear left behind the hospital are those of Wenlock Terrace, built for Officers with servant accommodation in the attics and basements and stables around the corner in Ambrose Street (named after the Fishergate property developer Ambrose Walker).
The site developed further in the 20th century and became a major hospital and this more recent history has been documented by Katherine Webb in her excellent book "From county hospital to NHS Trust: the history and archives of NHS hospitals, service and management in York, 1740-2000" published through the Borthwick Institute at the University of York.
Four blocks of married quarters, known as Hospital Fields, were built near the hospital in 1924.
Following the creation of the NHS, a civilian wing was opened in the 1950s with one large ward and an operating theatre. Later two more wards opened providing about 60 beds. It continued to be used by the Army until 1958 when it was then run solely as a NHS civilian hospital with medical and surgical wards.
The hospital finally closed on the 4th December 1976, following the opening of York's NHS hospital in Wiggington Road, and this huge old military hospital was demolished. But it is immortalised in the street name, Hospital Fields Road. Some of the Ordnance Depot buildings remain, including the Headquarters Offices, which are now occupied by Cycle Heaven.
Ordnance Lane also remains, along with the former housing for hospital staff, but all the smaller houses will soon be demolished to make way for a housing scheme by City of York Council.
Does anybody remember the hospital? Do you have memories, pictures or documents?
Please contact us if you do.
One website reader, Sally White, contacted FFH to tell of her Grandfather's cousin, Ethel St Quintin, who was Matron of the Military Hospital in the late 1920s. Ethel was born in Lewisham in 1877 and trained at St Bartholomew's Hospital. In 1904 she joined Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service and became a Sister in 1912. She served in France during the Great War and in 1917 the King presented her with the Royal Red Cross Medal, First Class. After the war she worked in Egypt and Hong Kong, where she was Supervising Matron at the British Military Hospital. Returning to England in the late 1920s, Ethel St Quintin was appointed Matron at the Military Hospital and is recorded in the Electoral Register as living at the Hermitage, a nurses house adjacent to Ousefield House in Fulford Road. A predecessor as Matron, Sarah Wilshaw, is recorded at Hermitage in the 1911 census, along with three Staff Nurses, a Cook and a Housemaid.
Edward (Ted) Lee [ 23446992 pte RAMC ] contacted FFH to say that he was posted to the York Military Hospital in March 1958, where he was I/C Bedding Store. Nursing Orderly 3 Captain Wood was QM I/C and he also remembered Staff Sergeant Smith. Ted says it was a good place to work with lots of happy times!
The Ordnance Depot
The Ordnance Depot had a narrow gauge railway connecting it to a wharf on the Ouse where an crane unloaded munitions brought from Woolwich Arsenal. Local people referred to the ship moored at the wharf on New Walk as the 'powder boat' one f which was the ketch 'Princess'. Guns and ammunition were unloaded onto small trucks for distribution around the buildings of the Depot. The route of the railway in 1890 can be traced on the map below, where you can see the turntables so the trucks were turned individually at each junction. There is also a passing place.
It is thought that the trucks were pushed by soldiers, although horses may also have been used to assist with pulling the trucks up the slope from the river bank. Narrow gauge railways at other Depots are known to have used small locos to pull the trucks, so perhaps these were used here in later years.
You can read more about the narrow gauge railway and the Ordnance Depot HERE
And Russ Rollings (Secretary of the Friends of the National Railway Museum, York) has kindly given FFH a copy of his article about the railway for the Friends Magazine, which you can read HERE
The tracks of the railway cross New Walk near the Millennium Bridge. They were uncovered in 2000, when the bridge was built, but gradually became covered by silt through years of floods. However, thanks to volunteers from Goodgym the full extent of the tracks can now be seen for the first time in many years. Click HERE to find out more
It is thought that the trucks were pushed by soldiers, although horses may also have been used to assist with pulling the trucks up the slope from the river bank. Narrow gauge railways at other Depots are known to have used small locos to pull the trucks, so perhaps these were used here in later years.
You can read more about the narrow gauge railway and the Ordnance Depot HERE
And Russ Rollings (Secretary of the Friends of the National Railway Museum, York) has kindly given FFH a copy of his article about the railway for the Friends Magazine, which you can read HERE
The tracks of the railway cross New Walk near the Millennium Bridge. They were uncovered in 2000, when the bridge was built, but gradually became covered by silt through years of floods. However, thanks to volunteers from Goodgym the full extent of the tracks can now be seen for the first time in many years. Click HERE to find out more