Bethel Hospital

Details

TG 2208 SE BETHEL STREET (south side) 22/61 Bethel Hospital GV II* Former Hospital, now Children's Psychiatric Clinic. Late C17 or early C18, with additions of C18, C19 and early C20. The 1899 rebuilding and repairs by E. Boardman. Brick and masonry dressings with plain tile and slate roofs. H-plan with closing north range and extensive dormitory ranges. The earliest block is 2-storey 'U' plan with north wings and a south facade of 7 irregular bays. C18 sash windows with glazing bars, flat hood on consoles with carved ends. Fronting Bethel Street, the north range, parallel to the original spine, was refaced and widened in 1899,into a 2-storey plus attic storey symmetrical 5-bay block, the ends of which were returned southwards to meet the north wings which were heightened to 3 storey. Sash windows throughout with rubbed brick flat arches. Masonry door surrounds. The central entry has a shouldered architrave with triangular head and an exaggerated keystone. Side lights with scrolled consoles beneath a carved oriel window. First floor Venetian window and second floor double sash window with apron. Semi-circular gable with masonry coping and quoins and an ironwork weathervane. Within, an extrance corridor has a coved ceiling with a blocked door surround and panelling of 1907 and leads to the original north door with primitive Ionic pilasters supporting a segmental pediment with a later inner door with semi-circular Gibbs surround. Cross and axial ground floor ceiling beams with nicked chamfer stops. Staggered butt purlin collar frame roofs with stopped-chamfer ties. 3 dormers in main spine and one in each of the wings. C19 ridge tiles. Later south wings effecting H plan. Both are 2-storey plus attic with arched recess in the gable, lunette with masonry arch and cill course. The west wing has smaller first-floor lunettes facing into the gardens Late C19 ground floor sash windows throughout and a single-storey bay on the west wing only. 4 small dormers on each side of each wing. The ground floor room in the east wing is decorated with an early - mid C18 heavy torus plasterwork cornice and a panelled overmantel with broken pediment above a later shouldered fireplace surround with female head and hanging cloth carved in stone. The room is lit by an extremely large sash window in the south gable. Roof construction allows the tie beams to be lower than the wall plate and allows greater attic space. Each truss has double butt purlins, collar and downward raking strut and overlaid common rafters added in C19 contemporary with ridge tiles and gable coping. The two-storey dormitory cell ranges were added flanking the width of the H plan and following the later Bethel Street and Little Bethel Street frontages. Sash windows throughout retaining original small panes. An inscription on the re- positioned foundation stone reads "This house was built for benefit of distrest Lunaticks An Dom: 1713.....Foundress was Mary Chapman, who lived there until her death in 1724."

Listing NGR: TG2272108455

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

228798

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.