Wolverhampton Eye Infirmary Report

Wolverhampton Eye infirmary report

@MidlandsUrbanEye

BUILT / CONVERTED: 1887
CURRENT STATE: Internally destroyed, externally stable.
CURRENT USE: Disused (Due to be cleaned up and revamped)
ADDRESS: Compton Street, Wolverhampton 

Article Updated: 18/09/2020

The infirmary was originally built in 1887 as stated in stone on the building itself and according to ex workers, council workers and historians the building opened in 1888 as the Eye infirmary, built by Henry Willcock & Co at a cost of £13,000 which is amazing given the size of the building and how beautiful its architecture is, The building was designed by architect T.H Fleeming. The original building had three men's and three women's wards with thirty beds and five children's cots, from our exploration it appears there was a children's ward/room. Some of the windows have been replaced with 20th century windows which has changed the look of the building. The nurses home was built in 1928 according to its engraved letters above the front entrance however online sources believe it to be 1987. There was also an accident and emergency extension added in 1937, all designed by local architects. Originally Edward banks and William Millington rented a house in St Marks road to provide eye care and had a rapidly growing amount of patients attend to the point people lined outside of the home, it became apparent the facilities were insufficient in 1884 and there was a need for a greater structure so Mr Philip Horsman undertook the erection of such a building at his own expense. Land was purchased from the Duke of Cleveland in Chapel Ash and the new buildings were opened on October the 3rd 1888 by the earl of Dartmouth which is the site we see today on Compton Road. In the early 1900s land was purchased on which the nurses home now stands and a porters lodge was built. 

At the outbreak of WW1 the number of patients rose and in the aftermath many administrative changes took place and funding increased. A complete renovation of the operating theatre was undertaken at a cost of £1,200 and new heating structures added. In the mid twenties, Dr Campbell Orr joined the staff and a new Nurses Home was constructed, furnished generously by 'Two Old Friends', and an ultra-violet unit was opened. By the 1930's the total income was £10.000 and a total of 142,000 patients were being treated annually. A fund was later set up to provide a new OPD, Pharmacy and A&E facility which opened in 1937, with the advent of WW2 more provisions had to be made for the wounded and the numbers treated from the immediate totalled 100k annually. After the war, Compton Hall, Now the hospice was brought to provide extra staff facilities, a male and female nurse training school was established and arrangements were made for local industrial nurses to receive training for the treatment of industrial eye injuries. After 1948 the NHS had taken over the Compton Street Infirmary, Whilst the levels of industrial based eye injuries kept rising the infirmary became known both nationally and internationally as a centre renown for corneal grafting. As health and safety became more advanced during the seventies and eighties the amount of patients admitted to the infirmary decreased rapidly. A complete new theatre block was opened in 1980 with the original theatre being converted into a chapel. During the 90's as medication became more advanced the amount of beds required at the infirmary began to decrease, night emergency services were soon transferred to new cross hospital, there was then talk of transferring all of the infirmary's treatments to the New cross hospital site which is still open today (2018). Eventually the NHS decided to do just that, and the Compton Road site closed completely in 2007, however spending did not stop. 

After the closure:

In 2007 when the site closed over 300k was spent on security by the NHS to keep the site safe, despite the amount of money spent, locals have mentioned the wooden boarding's have done nothing for the site as rainfall and intruders destroy and damage it constantly. Security has fixed windows and doors with metal shutters multiple times but regardless of how many times its been boarded, the buildings have been re-opened by disrespectful explorers, vandals, homeless and drug users. Metal boarding's can be seen through the main gate completely bent and ripped out of the walls where they'd been screwed in. Not a single window has been untouched on the site, every window is smashed and the building is completely wrecked internally. The site is now heavily decayed, fire damaged and overgrown. The NHS was given a planning enforcement notice to maintain the building due to its condition. An action plan has been provided by the trust to Wolverhampton council, which issued the order. Plans have been put on the table to redevelop the hospital since its closure.

In 2012 a new care home was proposed but negotiations broke down between the developer and the council, it was also proposed to have an office block, or supermarket built on the site but likewise to all over development plans they fell through. Multiple landlords, companies and land buyers have made proposals and negotiations for the site however none of which has actually taken action and brought the land from the NHS. In 2013 a fire ravaged the site destroying even more of the building, Three homeless men had to be rescued by fire crews and received immediate medical attention on scene, Following that other fires had been reported at the site yearly, Fire brigade have been constantly called to the site with reports of fires started within the building, all of which started by arsonists and vandals taking advantage of the derelict site. Most cases nobody is in the building or on scene by the time the fire crews arrive. Locals have called police out to the site countless times after reports of hearing windows being smashed and seeing people climbing the roof, at one point a young teenage boy was recording a YouTube video with a drone and caused the fire brigade to be called to the site after locals thought he was stuck or attempting to jump from the roof, The site has been targeted greatly by vandals and barely any part of the site is untouched and undamaged. From explorations it is apparent that homeless people and drug users still use the site as there are rooms in the nurses wards that have newly opened beer bottles, food, clothing and mattresses.

Extra Notes:

• Drone footage from the Express and star shows the building in an even worse state than it was when the Midlands Urban Eye Team explored the site in 2018 and 2019, with floors caved in and the structure crumbling.

• Around 2018 the Wolverhampton NHS Trust was served a planning enforcement notice to maintain the site by Wolverhampton Council, however the NHS Trust only barely upheld their end of the agreement. 

• Health bosses tried to appeal the orders to maintain and clean-up the derelict site however did not get the approval of courts, they claimed to not have a duty to maintain the buildings and refused to follow orders to get the site up to an acceptable standard which has led to criticism of the trust. 

• Late 2019, Wolverhampton Council had a redevelopment of the site backed by a judge after longstanding disputes over the state of the site. 

• BZ property holdings who now own the site, now have plans to regenerate the site and have stated it is possible the site may feature residential property. They also stated that the building was a dangerous accident waiting to happen and that repairs may not be necessary, They are in talks with the council over the next steps and are working with local authorities on some new designs.

 

Images: Midlands Urban Eye

Blog link: midlandsurbaneye.blogspot.com/2018/05/wolverhampton-eye-infirmary-report.html

Sources of research:
www.28dayslater.co.uk
www.historywebsite.co.uk/articles/EyeHospital/EyeInfirmary.htm
www.historywebsite.co.uk/listed/localist/EyeInfirmary.htm
www.expressandstar.com