The Shire Hill Hospital which once aided casualties from the battles of the First World War has been abandoned since 2018 and was once a workhouse for the poor in 1834
Heartbreaking images show the fate of the hospital that once served WW1 heroes now shockingly left abandoned to vandals.
Images show the hospital which closed in 2018 after originally being built as a workhouse for the poor in 1834, falling apart throughout with mementos of NHS rehabilitation posters and even pictures still hung on office walls. Subject to public consultation the 4.2 acre site has been proposed for redevelopment into 41 family homes at a cost of £15M, despite some opposition with locals calling for the history of the site to be preserved.
These images of the possibly soon-to-be-demolished Shire Hill Hospital were captured by urban explorer Kyle Urbex in Glossop, England. “Situated on Bute Street in the small town of Glossop the site consisted of two buildings and outbuildings,” explained Kyle.
“Opening its doors in 1837 under the name Glossop Union Workhouse initially only having one building but almost a century later in 1921 the site saw extension work take place which meant the site boasted two fully operational separate buildings.
“During the First World War the hospital specifically set certain beds aside for British military casualties who had been hurt in battle. By 1930’s it became part of the Glossop Public Assistance Institution and eventually joined the National Health Service in 1948 as Shire Hill Hospital which the name stuck until it eventually closed.
“The hospital boasted the facilities to cater for a wide range of health problems and surgeries however the trust announced a consultation on the potential closure of the hospital in 2017. A year later all services were then transferred to Tameside General Hospital and Shire Hill officially closed it’s doors forever leaving the site dormant and decaying.
“Since it’s closure multiple plans have been submitted to turn the old hospital site into houses but these have all been met by locals and MP outrage leaving the site with no clear future. It sits empty, rotting away and in a heavy state of disrepair having been highly vandalised and wrecked by the local kids in the area.
“Hopefully it can be saved one day and bring it back to its once former glory. So after a little climb up and in the window I was inside one of two buildings on the site, once inside it was clear the site has well and truly been trashed.
“Not much remains of its life as the Shire Hill Hospital albeit a few old posters but any chance of seeing old beds and equipment were well and truly out of the question. It’s sad in a way to see such a huge site left to fall into such a shambles.
“The second of the two buildings was sealed on my visit so I grabbed my outside shot and on to the next location I went!”
