SNN111054 - Historic Building Record: Rushden Hospital, Rushden, Northamptonshire, April 2014

In January 2014 Archaeology South-East (a division of the Centre for Applied Archaeology, UCL) carried out a historic buildings record of the former Rushden Hospital, Rushden, Northamptonshire. The work was commissioned by CgMs Consulting to address a condition placed on planning consent (Ref. 10/1017/OUT) by the archaeological advisors at Northamptonshire County Council for the partial demolition and conversion of existing redundant hospital buildings to provide an NHS resource centre, 125 residential dwellings and provision of open spaces. The hospital was built in the 1920s as Rushden Sanatorium for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB) and incorporated the house, outbuildings and grounds of Rushden House, a large domestic Gothic style mansion. The mansion was constructed in 1871 but significantly enlarged in 1907 before becoming part of the sanatorium. The early ward blocks were southfacing timber pavilions that were replaced in the late 1930s with more permanent brick-built structures in a domestic Neo-Georgian style. In 1960, with TB eradicated, Rushden became a chest hospital, known as Rushden Hospital. Prior to closure, the hospital was used to care for the elderly and those with psychological problems. Rushden House and three contemporary outbuildings remain of the Victorian structures predating the sanatorium phase, which were recorded to English Heritage Level 3 standard. None of the original hospital ward blocks remain, but all of the 1930s blocks are still standing, along with other hospital-era structures. These were recorded to Level 2 standard. All have been adapted and modernised through the life of the hospital but retain much of their external character.