Building record 1796/1/4 - Beechwood House, St Crispins Hospital

{1} Beechwood House was built within its own secluded garden adjacent to the Fire Station in 1924 to house nursing staff. There was a clear social hierarchy expressed in the detail and design of the staff cottages across the whole complex. The Beechwood House offered a high level of provision for its nursing staff with their own service staff; this indicated a higher level of status than for example the workmen's cottages adjacent to the stables. The garden around the house was terraced and laid to lawn, with mature specimen plants surviving. The boundary of the garden was demarkated with box and beech hedging; mature trees further surrounded the whole site. This offered Beechwood House seclusion and privacy from the hospital.
The exterior façade was comparable to the Nurses Home with simple plastered and white painted walls. The lowest 200-300mm had been painted black, perhaps inimitation of the blue-engineering brick foundation courses seen within the main block. The roof ahd been constructed with a slight angle towards the outer edges, on the north-south façade the ridge tiles created a pagoda effect. Rooms had been added to the roof space to create a second floor. This later addition had been designed to complement the overall style of the building. The windows were square cut into the façade, giving an airy pleasing effect.

<1> Thorne A.; Foard A.; Lean S., 2003, Historic Buildings Recording of St Crispins Hospital, Upton, Northamptonshire, 2002, p.81 (checked) (Report). SNN103454.

<2> Thorne L.; Lean S.; Harding J., 2003, Historic Buildings Recording of St Crispins Hospital, Upton, Northamptonshire (Illustrations), Fig. 27 (checked) (Report). SNN103455.

Record last edited

Apr 24 2008 1:04PM