Saxondale Hospital

Nurses at Saxondale Hospital

The foundation stone was laid on 25 July 1899 by Lady Belper, wife of the chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council.[1] The new building – designed by architect Edgar Purnell Hooley, better known as the inventor of Tarmac – was two stories high, cost £147,000 and had accommodation for 452 patients (226 of each sex). The 130 acres (0.53 km²) surrounding the hospital cost £6800. It was officially opened as the Radcliffe Asylum by Lady Elinor Denison on 24 July 1902.[2] In 1913 extensions were made for 148 patients, which cost £29,833. It was used as a military hospital in the later stages of the First World War, from August 1918 to October 1919, to care for shell shocked soldiers.[3]

The hospital underwent a strike and occupation in April 1922, when the staff members of the National Asylum Workers' Union were resisting a reduction in wages.[4][5] In 1932, two further blocks were erected, each to accommodate 50 female patients. It became known as Saxondale Hospital in 1947 and joined the National Health Service in 1948.[1] Further villas were built in the grounds in the 1950s and 1960s.[6][7]

A woman alleged that Jimmy Savile lifted her skirt when she was at a disco at the hospital and then aged 14. She was a local resident rather than a patient. Savile had a fundraising association with Saxondale Hospital from 1972 to the early 1980s.[8] The official report on the incident stated, "There was no reason to doubt that she gave an honest and truthful account of the incident as she recalled it."[9]

The hospital closed in 1987 and was partly demolished before the site was redeveloped. It is now a housing area known as Upper Saxondale.[6]