Many of the issues which pre-occupied the early founders of Cottage Hospitals are part of the current debates about hospital treatment in the 21 st century. How far should a patient have to travel? What are the relative merits of competition and co-operation in medicine? How can costs of hospital treatment be kept down? To what extent does the physical environment of a patient affect recovery?

Short-lived precursors of the 19th-century Cottage Hospital can be found from as early as the c.1740s. An embryonic version was established by William Fellowes, a landowner, at Hawes Green, Shotesham, outside Norfolk. The building is now converted to a house and much altered.

Cranleigh Village Cottage Hospital – Albert Napper

Cranleigh village hospital in Surrey, founded in 1859 by a general practitioner Albert Napper has come to be known as the model of later Victorian Cottage or ‘Village’ hospitals, as they were sometimes called. Cranleigh was well-publicised and featured in detail in the three editions of a 19th-century book on cottage hospitals by Henry C Burdett. Burdett was an enthusiastic advocate, who did much to disseminate good information and advice, covering every detail from bedpans to drainage (always a high priority) record-keeping and exemplary layouts. Cranleigh had four patient beds and its conversion maintained a completely cottage-like appearance. In the next 20 years or so about another 148 hospitals were established, some in existing buildings and some purpose-built. About the same number were added between 1879-1900. Average bed numbers rose to roughly 15 beds per hospital (based on an analysis of about 60% of the total). By 1934 there were over 600 cottage hospitals providing 10,000 beds.

The popularity of the cottage hospital was related both to the perceived cheapness of treatment, relative to larger or specialist hospitals, and the advantages they brought to the status of General Practitioners in the 19th century.

Design

Cottage Hospitals came in many different shapes and sizes and were funded and staffed in different ways. The internal design and furnishings were kept simple and functional. The external design of the buildings often reflected the varied architecture of the period, however, they all shared characteristics. They were small hospitals, funded by donations, collections and subscriptions, in order to provide health care for the sick poor in rural areas. Each hospital had its own local rules and regulations but they invariably excluded patients with infectious diseases and the insane. They avoided the need for the patient (or his/her visitors) to travel long distances to a general hospital in a town or city. Patients contributed to the cost of their treatment and keep, in line with contemporary views about the value of self-help, unless costs were covered by the parish. The encouragement of feelings of self-help and independence amongst the patients was at the heart of the system. Burdett insisted that

If ever these small hospitals become free to any large extent…they will prove a curse rather than a blessing to the labouring poor. This is one of the rocks ahead.

Cottage Hospitals were thought to be economical. In 1867 it was considered that a six-bed hospital could be set up in an existing cottage for as little as £350 and would be adequate to serve a rural population of 4,000-5,000. Cottage conversion also provided an architectural environment familiar to the patients and this was considered to improve their wellbeing. The system of converting cottages was rapidly supplemented by purpose-built hospitals, often funded by a single philanthropic local landowner, as at Winsford, but sometimes by subscription.

General Practitioners & Surgical Training

Cottage Hospitals also had advantages for local general practitioners. They were usually staffed by GPs, who could admit their own patients and who provided medical care on a rota system, supplemented by nursing staff. This provided a focus for GP co-operation, unusual at a time when the usual relationship was competing for patients. The provision of operating theatres allowed GPs to share costly surgical instruments and develop their surgical skills on the sick poor in relatively hygienic conditions, enhancing their expertise and reputation amongst their wealthy patients.

The lessons learnt day by day in the cottage hospital become in time of need of real value in the ancestral hall. Henry C Burdett

Complicated surgery was sometimes undertaken by a consulting surgeon, providing a welcome educational link between General Practice and the specialist surgeon from a general hospital.

West Country – Dispensary

The West Country was an early provider of Cottage Hospitals. Dispensaries set up to provide medicines at cost price and free advice for the sick poor sometimes developed into Cottage Hospitals. The dispensary at Wiveliscombe in Somerset was providing emergency beds as early as 1804 and there were examples of small early hospitals at Penzance in Cornwall and Teignmouth in Devon.

Burdett recorded twelve Cottage Hospitals in Devon by 1896:

Ashburton and Buckfastleigh
Budleigh Salterton
Dartmouth
Dawlish
Exmouth
Ilfracombe
Newton Abbot
Ottery St Mary
Paignton
Sidmouth
Tavistock
Totnes

No doubt there were more by 1900.

The CFA Voysey Society Logo

The CFA Voysey Society has been founded to celebrate the work of the architect and designer Charles Francis Annesley Voysey (1857-1941), one of the leading figures in both the Arts and Crafts movement and its immediate successors.

It is the Society’s objective to encourage research into all aspects of Voysey’s life and work and to help to maintain his legacy. Amongst other activities, the Society hopes to develop a programme of lectures and visits around the country.

The Society gathered at Broad Leys, near Windermere in the Lake District, on Thursday the 29th September 2012 for their inaugural meeting.

CFA Voysey Society’s Aims and Objectives

The Voysey Society has been founded to celebrate the life and work of architect and designer Charles Francis Annesley Voysey (1857-1941), one of the leading figures in the Arts and Crafts movement.

The Voysey Society’s aims are to:
• assist in protecting and preserving the original character and amenities of Voysey’s designs, buildings and other objects
• inform and educate the public about Voysey’s work so as to increase its appreciation and understanding of the design philosophies and qualities involved
• undertake and promote research in connection with Voysey’s work and any other related matter
• and promote the dissemination of the results
• focus on buildings and objects designed by Voysey which are considered to be at risk
• provide assistance to the owners of Voysey buildings, furniture, textiles and other artefacts in respect of fundraising, conservation, repair and maintenance, and sympathetic use

Amongst other activities, the Voysey Society will:
• develop a programme of meetings, exhibitions, lectures and visits throughout the country
• and facilitate and encourage relevant publications in all formats.

“Never look at an ugly thing twice. It is fatally easy to get accustomed to corrupting influences.” C.F.A Voysey

Winsford Cottage Hospital

As a hospital, the building served the local community for a hundred years. It was used as a military hospital for the duration of both World Wars. For the second half of 20th century it suffered the benign neglect of the National Health Service. Despite (or perhaps because of) that neglect the building survives almost entirely as Voysey conceived it and has been listed as Grade II* for many years.

In 1999 the NHS decided the hospital was redundant to its needs. It was secured by the Winsford Trust for the benefit of the community and is now known as the Winsford Centre. It is probably the only Voysey building in public ownership.

Regrettably, as a result of the NHS’s benign neglect its current status is also recognised by its inclusion on English Heritage’s “At Risk” register. The Trust’s aim, therefore, is to ensure that this unique building is fully restored, remains in public ownership and makes the most of its historic and architectural heritage. The Trust has recently secured funding from English Heritage and the Pilgrim Trust to carry out the detailed condition survey that is essential to planning a full restoration. The goal is to make the building a national focus for the Arts and Crafts movement, whilst keeping it fully accessible to the people of North Devon to whom it was gifted.

CFA Voysey Architecture

Winsford Orchard - Devon

The exterior of the building is unmistakably by Voysey and has the comfortable and reassuring look of a large domestic house. A sweeping Delabole slate roof dominates the front elevation. This is broken by a small gable over the asymmetrically placed front door and large front facing gables at each end brought through from the wings behind. Both the walls and the chimney stacks are brick, rendered with cream roughcast. One characteristic Voysey tapering stack marks the position of the original wash-house boiler. Multi-paned metal window frames are set within dressed sandstone surrounds and mullions. At the east end of the frontage the row of windows is broken by a stone arched wooden opening which gives access to the former coal store.

The south face of the building is characterised by the gables at the end of each wing. Open fronted, glass roofed, verandas with cast iron pillars were added to the gables in the 1920s. They are not shown on Voysey’s original drawings and it not known if they are his work but they complement the general scheme well. What is known is that Edward Costin commissioned Voysey in 1924 to build a small extension at the west end of the main building.

Winsford Cottage Hospital - Rear Elevation

In the recess between the wings there was originally an open fronted veranda sheltered by the slate roof. This is now enclosed within a 1960’s extension built by the NHS, known as the Day Room. A high priority of the Trust is the removal of this and decaying “carbuncle” as soon as is practicable and the restoration of the veranda.

CFA Voysey Interior

The interior is also Voysey’s, but is very austere and functional. However, it retains many of the decorative fittings and features that characterise his attention to every detail of domestic architecture. Almost every original door survives, with its ironwork hinges and latches. The windows also carry Voysey’s practical and ingenious latches and stays, the original fittings. The four biggest rooms, which were the hospital’s wards, have large Voysey mantelpieces, though the original tiling and fireplaces have long gone. They appear to be of an identical pattern to fireplaces in the Voysey house at Hollybank, Hertfordshire, built in 1903.

The fireplace in the entrance hall has an impressive but simple oak mantelpiece enclosing a green-tiled fire surround. The oak is carved with two shields, one a monogram of the letters M & G – Maria and George. The other is a heraldic device. Voysey’s expenses book shows that it was made by his supplier and patron A W Simpson of Kendal. Three metal memorial plaques have been added to the mantelpiece. Unfortunately, the original open grate has been replaced by a modern enclosed fire.

CFA Voysey Ventilation Grill

Three of the smaller rooms still have characteristic small cast iron fire surrounds with Voysey’s heart motif. If one explores thoroughly, two of his well-known “birds” ventilation grilles can be found. Another example of Voysey’s attention to detail is to be found in what was the Children’s Ward. This has a large westward facing set of windows. When the hospital was built the busy Halwill Junction railway station was only yards away. Voysey is reported to have said that he had planned the Children’s Ward to overlook the railway as it was “the only entertainment near the site”.

Winsford Trust & English Heritage Open Days 2011

The building was specially featured in the literature for the 2011 Heritage Open Days. It was open to the general public on Saturday 10th September but the previous day, 9th September, the trustees held an invitation-only “preview” day to raise its profile both locally and more widely to those with a particular interest in the Arts and Crafts Movement. The programme featured presentations by the well known Voysey scholar, Karen Livingstone formally of the V & A.
The Winsford Trust would be pleased to welcome members of The William Morris Society.

Cheesy Quiz Night!

It’s quiz time again! On February 25th from 7.00pm (eyes down at 7.30pm) we will be holding one of our fundraising quiz evenings at the Winsford Centre.

Tickets are £6.00 per person and will include a ‘cheese’ platter for sharing and a ‘cheesy’ round of questions! Tables of 6 please and a licensed bar is available.

For table reservations contact the office on 01409 221 470 or you can book a table through the contact page on our website. Questions will be set by our infamous in-house quiz master Dr Ray Ward.

Heart of South West Local Enterprise Partnership: An Opportunity for Architects

Cost: Free
Booking: Strictly through RIBA Michelle Taylor 0844 800 2767

Localism will present both challenges and opportunities for all professions involved in the built environment. The Heart of South West Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is a locally owned partnership between local authorities and businesses to play a central role in determining local economic priorities and undertaking activities to drive economic growth and the creation of local jobs across Somerset and Devon.

Chaired by RIBA Councilor for the South West Mark Kemp, and featuring the chair of the Heart of South West LEP board Tim Jones, this is a unique, must-go opportunity to engage and understand how you could play a role in the work of the LEP and the opportunities it could offer. Questions and discussion will follow Tim’s presentation at this new event from the RIBA in the region.

Refreshments and a presentation/tour of the CFA Voysey designed Winsford Centre will take place following the Forum. This Forum is open to Members and Non-Members.

The Winsford Trust has embarked on a long journey to restore this unique grade II* listed building for future generations to enjoy. The building is over 100 years old and of great architectural significance. Requirement came to light in recent years through the obvious sign of wear and tear and material failure throughout the building. Along with our architects, Van der Steen Hall, we approached English Heritage who immediately gave the building grade II* listing and placed it on the ‘at risk’ register. Working with our architects it became apparent that a full structural survey was required before any restoration work could commence.

Funding for The Winsford Trust Restoration Project

In 2007 funding was secured from English Heritage for a large percentage of the initial surveys and investigation works, despite this generous funding we still needed to find the monies required to complete this stage. In 2011 a match funding application was agreed with The Pilgrim Trust for the remaining outstanding amount.

After discussions with our new partners we are beginning to understand the scale of the project ahead. This survey is the first element in the process of completing a full restoration, bringing the building back to its original condition, and securing its long term future as an Arts & Craft Centre of Excellence and a valuable educational resource. Vision of the Trust.

At the time of writing, winter 2011, the survey is underway. We have appointed our consultants and instructed them to prepare all necessary documentation. The conditional survey is due to be completed by March 2012. This will give us the information required to seek funding for the full restoration.

Historical Building Project Partners of the Winsford Trust

• Van der Steen Hall – Architects
• Mann Williams – Structural Engineers
• Hoare Lea – Consulting Engineers
• Press & Starkey – Quantity Surveyors
• Keystone – Historic Buildings Consultants
• Roger Tym & Partners – Business Planners
• Tor Surveys – Measured Survey
• Nicholas Pearson Associates – Landscape Appraisal
• George Bemment – Bat and Bird Ecologist
• Lisa Oestreicher – Paint Analysis
• Rose of Jericho – Material Analysis

Authorities Involved With Listed Building Projects

Torridge District Council – Conservation Officer
English Heritage – Support, monitoring and appraisal.

Simplicity in decoration is one of the most essential qualities, without which, no true richness is possible. To know where to stop and not what to do is a long way on the road to being a great decorator”
By C F A Voysey.
Taken from The Studio Magazine Vol.7 No 38

This was Voysey’s philosophy, not only in his furniture design but also in his architecture. He believed in form over function.

CFA Voysey Furniture

Voysey’s furniture designs were simple and functional and were sparingly decorated. He tended to leave wood with a natural finish rather than the more fashionable technique of paint or stain. As a designer, Charles Voysey paid meticulous attention to detail. His characteristic heart shaped motifs can be seen on many of his pieces of furniture and even metalwork, such examples can be seen on the fire place surrounds at the Winsford Centre and in many other Voysey buildings.

Voysey’s furniture was made by F C Nielsen. His metalwork by Thomas Elsley & Co. and his textiles by Alexander Morton, GP&J. Baker, AH Lee, JW&C Ward, Stead McAlpin, Thomas Wardle, Turnbull & Stockdale, Donald Brothers, Foxton’s, Templeton’s, Tomkinson & Adam and sold to the shops Liberty & Co., Story’s and Wylie & Lochead.

Clocks

Voysey was fascinated by clocks and designed many different types, ranging from domestic clocks, like the one in the image, to large examples intended for offices and public buildings. He owned a clock like this which was photographed in his home, The Orchard, Chorley Wood, Hertfordshire, in 1901. An almost identical clock belonged to Mary, Countess of Lovelace (1848-1941), an Arts and Crafts enthusiast. She and her husband commissioned designs from Voysey for a new house at Ockham Park, Surrey, in 1894.

Object Type

Although this clock has an architectural shape and unusual decoration, it is fitted with a conventional movement. It is decorated with the childlike, flat patterns that Voysey, used for his textiles and wallpapers. There is an example of the clock at the Victoria & Albert Museum London.

Numerals

Voysey’s original design for this clock, dated 1895, shows conventional roman numerals on the face. In 1896 he exhibited a clock with that type of face at the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society in London. By 1901 he had exchanged the numerals for the Latin phrase tempus fugit (‘time flies’), a characteristically neat reminder of the clock’s function.

A Brief History

Originating as a late Victorian Cottage Hospital the Winsford Centre is part of an important strand in the history of health care provision, beginning long before the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948, but maintained and developed afterwards. Although Cottage Hospitals came in many different shapes and sizes and were funded and staffed in different ways, their defining characteristics were that they were relatively small (usually 25 beds or fewer) and serviced a rural population. They were primarily hospitals for the poor: funded by subscriptions, collections and donations, the buildings sometimes gifted by wealthy landowners. Patients were expected to make a modest financial contribution to their treatment and care. All the general practitioners in the area were allowed to admit patients and co-operated to staff the hospital, often on a rota system, along with a nurse. The provision of an operating theatre and surgical instruments allowed GPs to develop their surgical skills.

Early Cottage Hospitals

Short-lived precursors of the Victorian Cottage Hospital can be found from as early as the c.1740s. Cranleigh village hospital in Surrey, founded (and well-publicised) in 1859 by a general practitioner Albert Napper, and Horace Swete is generally regarded as the model of later and enduring examples of Cottage Hospitals. As the name indicates, early buildings were often converted cottages, both for economy’s sake but also to provide a setting which would be familiar to the patients, their relatives and visitors. Later purpose-built examples were often symmetrical, reflecting a plan which was based on providing separate wards for women and men.

Maria Louisa (Molly) Medley, born 1840, was the daughter of Henry Courteney Selous, a distinguished artist and illustrator of Victorian children’s books. Among other things he received the commission to paint the Opening of the Crystal Palace Exhibition 1851, this painting now resides in the Victoria & Albert Museum. The painting shows the Archbishop of Canterbury giving a blessing in the presences of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

George Webb Medley (1826-1898)

George was born into a family that made its fortune in Jamaican sugar plantations. Following the emancipation of the slaves in 1843, the family returned to England. George was 14. He did not go to university but was clearly well-educated and was inter alia a well known chess champion. He entered the Stock Exchange specialising, with success, in railway investments. He was an advocate of Free Trade and wrote a number of pamphlets on the subject. He twice stood for Parliament as a Liberal but was not elected.

George married Maria in 1875, when he was 45 and she 36.

George died in 1898 and his Will shows his gross estate at £260,000. In modern terms this is many millions of pounds. Almost everything was left to his wife but among smaller bequests was the sum of £1,000 to the Reverend Charles Voysey if the Theistic Church, Piccadilly, London.

Winsford Tower

They had Winsford Tower, Halwill Junction, built as their country retreat sometime around 1884. It must have been an impressive mansion with lots of rooms lavishly furnished, full of portraits carefully chosen and they would have employed a lot of staff. In the grounds stood cottages for a gardener and a bailiff, a lodge, a boating lake, walled garden, greenhouses as well as a garage designed to match the architecture of the big house. Inside there was a billiard room, study and a grand staircase leading to the tower and numerous guest bedrooms.

The Webb Medleys entertained well and would invite guests to travel down to Devon to enjoy cultural weeks involving singing, music and painting. There was also tennis, croquet and boating on offer to guests. In truth, Molly (as she was known to family and friends) took a great interest in art in all forms and was generous in her support. She had many of her father’s paintings hung at Winsford Tower, it was there that Maria’s distinguished father died in 1890.

Described as a sumptuously appointed country house with magnificent terraced gardens giving panoramic views of nearby Dartmoor. After Maria died the house gradually fell into disrepair and was finally demolished in the 1950s. However, the magnificent walled garden created by Maria still survives.

Gerard Robert Townshend Leigh-Hunt (1873-1945

In particular, she paid for the education of Gerard Leigh Hunt, a distant relative who, as a child showed great promise as an artist. He was one of a large family and so the chance of having financial support to develop his talent was very welcome. As a result at the age of 21 he exhibited at the Royal Academy in London and went on to become a noted portrait painter. He obviously stayed at Winsford Towers on many occasions and painted pictures of the locality. There was also a portfolio of photographs showing the house and grounds in their heyday which gave an insight into the life and times of the Webb Medleys.

Winsford Cottage Hospital

In 1898 George Webb Medley died and in his memory, Molly commissioned C F A Voysey, a well-known and talented architect and designer, to draw up plans for a hospital to benefit the people living in Halwill and 14 adjacent parishes.

Maria died childless in 1919 and her fortune was distributed amongst her extended family. The artist Gerard Leigh Hunt was one of the beneficiaries but the bulk of her estate, including the Winsford Cottage Hospital, passed to her nephew Edward Costin who, as a requirement of the terms of the will changed his name to Edward Medley Costin.

Winsford Cottage Hospital

A Lady’s Noble Gift

There is probably no finer or more bracing air in Devon than that which is to be found on the tract of country high above the sea level, which adjoins the South-Western Railway near Halwill and Holsworthy. It is in that district – close by Halwill Junction station, and commanding, to the southward, a pleasant and open view of field and woodland right away to the distant Dartmoor Hills – that a site has been found for the Winsford Cottage Hospital.

The building with its grounds occupies just one acre. Seen from the road hard by, there is something of a Continental look about the long one-storey structure with its bright white walls relieved by the green of doors and windows and so on. Green, that most restful of colours, has in fact, in various shades, entered freely into the architect’s “scheme” all through. As you enter the bright central hall, in which a fire is blazing cheerily, an inscription tells you that the hospital has been erected

to the memory of George Webb Medley of Winsford Tower, Beaworthy, by his wife, Maria Louisa Medley, 1899.

Mr Medley will be remembered as a candidate, some years ago, for the representation of Devonport and as a writer and authority on Free Trade and kindred questions. His wealth was acquired on the London Stock Exchange and at his North Devon mansion whose beautiful grounds stretch to within a few fields’ length of the hospital where he was wont to spend part of the summer months, as Mrs Medley does now.

In the entrance hall of the little hospital, and indeed throughout the whole place, there is a cosy, homelike air, which must be doubly comforting to the sick folk who are to be its inmates. Running right and left as you emerge is a long, admirably lighted corridor terminating in two wards, which form wings of the hospital. Stepping out from the middle of the corridor you find yourself on a covered veranda where patients may sit, and beyond that again are the garden and orchard grounds, now in the process of being laid out for grass and fruit trees. Here, in the open air and yet sheltered, convalescents may enjoy the practically unlimited prospect that stretches away for miles and miles in front and on either hand.

The foundation of the building has had special care; sewage and storm water are treated separately; an abundance of pure water comes from a well and pump on the premises, and the sanitary arrangements seem excellent. The wards and all the rooms are heated by ordinary fires – there is nothing more cheerful than the old fashioned blaze – but for baths and other domestic purposes a hot water system is connected with a boiler behind the kitchen range.

Returning to the central hall for a more leisurely inspection of the hospital itself, one passes to the right into the surgery and the adjoining committee and consulting room in which the nucleus of a surgical library that will probably be of value for reference to neighbouring practices, as well as the hospital staff. Passing a bedroom, bathrooms and other apartments, one finds oneself in the children’s ward. The bright white little beds with ingenious bed trays and several other mechanical arrangements for the comfort of the little occupants and the convenience of their nurses impress one as pleasantly as do the beautifully finished wooden floors and tiles in this as in all the wards. As to the wards there are three of them arranged pretty much alike internally – this for children, another near it for women, and the third at the other end of the building for men – each making up two beds; and besides there are two beds for accident cases (one of them reserved for special emergencies) making a total of eight beds for the whole hospital.

The bedsteads, ambulance chairs, movable bath and other furnishings that have to be taken from their position, are all on India rubber tyres on which they run noiselessly, and this is but one of a hundred little details where thoughtful foresight has been exercised without regard to cost. The comfortably furnished sitting room for the matron sister, and a linen closet heated for drying purposes with hot water pipes are noticed as one goes toward the little operating room. This apartment, like the corridors and veranda, is tiled. It is provided with an operating table of the latest kind, specially obtained from New York. The arrangements for hot and cold water supply and for securing that all the numerous surgical appliances shall be aseptic are complete. In the accident ward is a Gorham Accident Bed, which allows of the patient’s position being raised or lowered at any angle, and there is also a fracture bed of the usual type. A stretcher ambulance, also capable of being raised or lowered to any degree is among the other equipments.

The out-offices of the hospital are as complete as its internal arrangements. Everything seems to have been thought of – stable, coach house, and even (to avoid all risk) a separate corrugated iron house for lamps and oil.

The hospital itself, though we have spoken of it as in the style of a bungalow, is really of very substantial masonry – 0-inch brick, overlaid with two inches of cement roughcast. Stone from the adjoining quarry of Mr W.J. Harris and slate from Delabole, has been worked in, and the brass and iron work of all kinds is of the best.

CFA Voysey

Mr Voysey of London has been the architect and in the erection of the hospital the counsel and surgical experience of Mr T. Linnington Ash of Holsworthy have been of great assistance.

Dr Linnington Ash – Surgeon

The staff comprise Mr Paul Swain of Plymouth, consulting surgeon; Mr T. Linnington Ash, surgeon in charge; Mr E.O. Kingdon, Holsworthy and Mr G.V. Burd, Okehampton, assistant surgeons; Sister Emily Palmer (late of Dawlish Cottage Hospital and Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital), matron; and Miss M Bothwell, probationer.

Halwill and Surrounding Parish

The hospital is intended to benefit gratuitously the poor of the parishes of Halwill and Beaworthy, Ashbury and Northlew, Ashwater, Black Torrington and Highampton, Bradford and Cookbury, Clawton, Holsworthy and Pyworthy, the first two places having the preference, but when vacancies allow and subject to certain conditions and recommendations permission may be given for the reception of paying patients – a provision which in the case of struggling middle class people may prove to be not the least of the boons that the new institution will confer.

Finally, it may be mentioned that the hospital has already two patients and another application, and that the entire cost has been borne by Mrs Medley, except that three or four personal friends or relatives have been permitted to give books and a few other special other articles. Mrs Medley intends also to permanently endow the Institution in order that she and her late husband will always be associated.

Reproduced with kind permission of the Western Morning News