on the way to work #19

Taken at lunch time, Babington Hospital, Belper 
This fine old building on the A6 in Belper was once a workhouse for the poor. The building was constructed from local Derbyshire stone and was intended to accommodate up to 300 inmates. Workhouses were never popular and there was a spate of attacks and fires, it was damaged by a suspicious fire in October 1841. The large crowd who gathered to watch not only refused to put it out, but threatened those who did.

After the Second World War the building became a hospital. Today it has few wards and is mostly an outpatients and clinic but it is getting more and more difficult to convert and to meet modern needs and the running costs must be horrendous because it’s a listed building. On completion in 1840 it had cost £8,700 to build, we might soon know how much it is worth today as the NHS are reviewing its viability.


A busy week has seen all of the building work completed to schedule, with just a bit of builders rubbish  left to be picked up. Carpet in dining room down, more bits and pieces finished off and we are now all but there :-) Tonight I have another work do so Christmas decs can wait until the weekend.