top of page

North Shields

Tynemouth Jubilee Infirmary

Last Updated:

24 Nov 2023

North Shields

This is a

Hospital

55.010226, -1.456696

Founded in 

1887

Current status is

Partly Preserved

Designer (if known):

FRN Haswell (Original infirmary), Cackett, Burns, Dick & MacKellar (Outpatients building)

4076554724_b6df6c95d4.jpg

Listed Grade II

Demolished over 20 years ago - this was the site of the Tynemouth Jubilee Infirmary.

The building in the foreground of the above photograph is the last surviving structure - the outpatients building, designed by Cackett, Burns, Dick & Mackellar in 1932. A lovely example of an inter-war Portland Stone public service building, similar to the Byker Sun Ray Clinic. It was funded through a bequest of £15,000 by Mrs Elizabeth Wilson of Easby House and featured a waiting hall, consulting, examination and dressing rooms, 2 massage rooms, an operating theatre together with anaesthetising and sterilising rooms, and a laboratory. Mrs Wilson had died 4 years previous, and wanted this built as a memorial to her brother John Nicholson, a shipowner, her mother Mrs Catherine Wilson, her brother in law Mr George Cleugh, shipowner, and his wife Mrs C E Cleugh.

The Infirmary itself had quite an illustrious history. Building commenced in 1887, after being mooted for quite a while by the the Tynemouth Infirmary and Benevolent Society.

They started life as a flower mission in 1875 - quite literally visiting the homes of the ill with flowers and gods word. A very primitive form of Victorian social care funded by donations. Their first depot was in a house owned by Mrs Cowell, and their first proper headquarters was at 66 Howard Street and later Dockwray Square.

It was public subscription that saw the construction of the infirmary on a previously vacant small grass field on Hawkeys Lane. It was sited here to be away from the smokiness of the town, and provided ample space to expand as is the case in the 1925.

There would be a male and female ward, each with 8 beds and a small separation ward. There was also a matrons room, kitchen, scullery and pantry.

Nowadays there is only the outpatients building, its war memorial and a fragment of the 1924 infirmary extension very close by. The site is now occupied by an Aldi, which opened this year, and an ambulance station. The 1925 extension was demolished in 2000.

Listing Description (if available)

II Hospital outpatient wing. 1932. Designed by Cackett, Burns, Dick & Mackellar, and built by Ball Brothers of North Shields. Brown brick with dressings of red brick and Portland stone. Graduated Lakeland slate roof with copper stack cone. One tall storey, three bays and lower set-back flat-roofed right bay with canted ends. Plinth; part-opening casements, with glazing bars and radial heads, in stone jambs and console-keyed archivolts; impost string continued into end bay; brick apron panels between full-length jambs. Square-headed smaller similar window in end bay. Deep, moulded eaves cornice. Hipped roof has central stack with band and cornice, conical swept cap. Coped parapet to right bay.The building is entered through a panelled double door in the left return, in stone architrave. Included for historical interest. This building was erected by a bequest of £15,000 from Mrs Wilson of Easby House, North Shields, and it was opened in September 1932. Left covered way, small extension and link to main hospital are altered and not of special interest.

Both maps illustrate the infirmary before and after the extensions of the 1920s. In the 1890s, this site was still on the fringes of North Shields. Public utilities like the water reservoirs, the Corporation Yard (effectively a council depot) were located here between the edge of the town and Chirton to the west. The space gives ample room for a new hospital, and a pleasant environment for patients.

The next decades saw a huge expansion in the town boundaries however. Dwellings were needed to accomodate the ever growing demand of the growing industries like shipyards and collieries. This resulted in neighbouring villages being consumed into suburbia. This is evident when we explore the surroundings of the hospital and the new ameneties, such as the Appleby Park football ground, schools and churches.

Here's a look back into the area before the hospital in 1865. Hawkey's Lane was the primary access north to Preston Village. Preston Colliery was located on the lane which became Appleby Park, as well as a couple of cottages such as Camp Cottage and Hunt Hill Cottage.

4076554724_b6df6c95d4.jpg

The outpatients building and war memorial in 2023

4076554724_b6df6c95d4.jpg

The grand 1920s extension to the infirmary on this undated shot. Unknown source.

4076554724_b6df6c95d4.jpg

The original infirmary in an undated shot. Unknown source.

bottom of page