As a little girl, a lot of my time was spent at my gran’s house at Widdrington Station. She had grown up at Widdrington Colliery and would often regale me with stories of her childhood. Many of the tales revolved around ‘Paradise’, near West Chevington. I became fascinated with the tales of the isolation hospital there, and visited many times as a child – before the area was opencasted – wandering through the buildings.
There was always quite a spooky feel to the site, which we entered through quite a large wooden gate (it may have been a normal size gate, I was quite small at the time!). On one late afternoon trip, I remember hearing strange noises in one of the buildings, which left me paralysed with fear until a lone sheep decided to wander out through the door! I think it was on that occasion that I looked in the building and noticed that there was still a bed in place, with blankets upon it. It felt as if everyone had walked out one day, never to return, leaving everything in its place.
Fast forward a few (!) years, and I find myself working at Northumberland Archives, wondering if there is any information on one of my childhood haunts. Actual records from isolation hospitals are one of the gaps in our collections, but there is other information lurking if you know where to look. Looking at the OS maps, I found the isolation hospital on a copy of the 3rd edition (1925) map [ref. sheet LI.SE]. My next move was to look through local newspapers, to establish a timeline for the hospital, and learn more about its history. The Morpeth Herald was where I found mention of the hospital, because it was operated by the Morpeth Rural District Council.
In July 1902, Morpeth Rural District Council had decided that the best site for an isolation hospital was on Chevington Moor, near Chevington Station, as it was near a water supply. It took until May 1903 for the draft contract for the site to be drawn up by Lord Grey’s solicitor. By August 1903, reports noted that the ground at the site had been levelled and, as smallpox was currently rife, building was urged to begin as soon as possible. The site comprised 12 acres, and the lease was to be for 48 years, at £12 per annum, to commence 12 May 1904.
The Morpeth Herald on 19 September 1903 reports that the isolation hospital would be ready to accept patients in 10 days, and that the “appearance of the hospital is very attractive, the surrounding air health-inspiring…” It was also noted that 300 yards west of the hospital and on a direct line with it, was an old roofless engine-house, that would make an excellent smallpox hospital. On 26 May 1904, the Hospital was inspected by the District Council’s Hospital Committee – it is interesting to note that in this newspaper article, the site of the Hospital is referred to as Paradise, the only time I have found written evidence of it being called this. Two trees were planted on the occasion of the visit, one by the Chairman, Mr. T. Hudson, and one by the Medical Officer, Dr. William Clarkson. 24 cases of smallpox had been recently treated there (four of them of a very severe nature), and all patients had survived.
We then jump to 1911 for the next mention of the hospital. A Mr. William Wilson was appointed caretaker out of 14 applicants in May of that year, and in November there is a report from the Doctor regarding the possible conversion of the old engine-house, which is worth reading:
“At present we have a smallpox hospital, which accommodates 20 patients, and there is the old engine-room, which is not fitted out, and I consider it would not be wise to equip it, as it would only accommodate four beds, or six for some diseases. It would require new windows, the walls plastered, and the roof sealed. Then it must be divided into two and nurses’ accommodation added…”
The Doctor concluded that it was best to keep the current hospital as a smallpox hospital as it was very isolated, and to select another position as a fever hospital. In 1912 and 1913, there was much discussion at the local council meetings regarding the use of the hospital as a central isolation hospital. It was argued that it couldn’t be used to isolate cases of fever because it was set apart purely for smallpox cases, the counter argument was that it could be used for one infectious disease at a time, but that a nurse would need to be appointed. We then jump to 1919, when a separate typhoid hospital in Longhirst was being proposed, as Chevington couldn’t accept typhoid cases.
Substantial entries for the hospital peter out at this point, and I turned to the Medical Officer of Health [MOH] Reports for Morpeth Rural District Council, for information [ref. CC/CH/MOH/1/19]. In the 1920 MOH report, one of the sites recommended for the Infectious Hospital (presumably the one proposed for Longhirst originally, for typhoid cases) was on a neighbouring site to the ‘Smallpox Hospital’ (Chevington), and the other on Morpeth Moor. By 1921, the Reports are talking about a Fever Hospital, for which there is no government money available, and the answer might be to create a Union Hospital by joining with several neighbouring Councils.
Part two to follow…..
