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Winsley Sanatorium
Winsley, Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire
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In the 1890s a consortium of health officers from the counties of Wiltshire, Somerset, Gloucestershire and Bristol decided that the old quarries at Murhill, Winsley would be the ideal place to site a hospital for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB).
The choice was because at that time it was thought that plenty of fresh air would be the main part of a cure and the location, high on the hill facing into the prevailing weather, would fulfill the need. Rich people had long sought the pure air of the Alps or Cote d’Azur.
Building of the hospital, designed by Bradford-born Thomas Ball Silcock jr in partnership with Samuel Sebastian Reay, began in 1903 and it opened in 1905 and was enlarged in 1911. It ceased treating tuberculosis in 1977, but continued as a hospital for a few more years. The hospital buildings and some new ones as well have become the Avon Park retirement village.
The buildings of the former sanatorium are now used by Avon Park.
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Dr Lionel Alexander Weatherly MD, MRCS (1852-1940) was the son of Frederick, a surgeon in Portishead, Somerset. He was instrumental in the setting up of the sanatorium and continued in charge until 1907, when he became Superintendant of Bailbrook House in Bath. He was a prolific writer of medical books and articles.
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An aerial photograph of Winsley Sanatorium, or Chest Hospital, on a postcard. The title gives the location as “Limpley Stoke, Somerset”, but it really was in Winsley and both are in Wiltshire!
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A drawing of the sanatorium by Grace Barton in 1974 belonged to the hospital and was given to Bradford Museum with various other objects by its last Administrator.
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Another coloured postcard of the sanatorium in the early days of the 20th century. It was published by Phoebus Photographic Studios of Bradford around the opening date in 1905.
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A group of patients and staff at the Sanatorium in a photograph on a postcard that was sent by patient William Scott (second from the right, middle row) to Annie Maria Austin in Swindon in February 1913. His treatment was successful and the couple were married later.
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Another postcard photograph of patients and nurses of the Winsley Sanatorium taken in 1913.
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The chamber pot is one of a batch that was purchased when the Winsley Sanatorium opened in 1905.
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Two copies of magazines that were produced by the patients of the hospital .
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