Hollymoor Hospital Birmingham

[nursesue]

Hollymoor Hospital was built by Birmingham Corporation as a Lunatic Asylum. In 1900, the contract to build the hospital was awarded by competitive tender to John Bowen & Sons of Birmingham. Part of the contract included a requirement for the building materials to brought to the site by railway. The nearest convenient access point was at the existing sidings at Rubery station . A new locomotive was purchased by the contractor for use on the construction of the hospital. The contract was largely complete by the end of 1904 and the locomotive was no longer required. The official opening of the hospital was on 6th May 1905. There are no visible remains of the contractor's railway.
The hospital is also closed and most was demolished in 1996. The whole site has been redeveloped as a Business and only the water tower remains. Water towers were standard features of late Victorian mental hospitals. with Solihull Healthcare NHS Trust leasing accommodation from Solihull Hospital for its acute mental health services day hospital instead.

National plans had been drawn up for supplying and equipping a number of emergency hospitals should war break out as early as 1909
1st and 2nd Birmingham War Hospitals
The urgent need for more suitable hospital accommodation forced the authorities to consider many alternatives. The Army Council specified the need for an extra 50,000 beds across the country, in established buildings with appropriate facilities, located near to a railway station. In consequence, the Asylum War Hospital Scheme was launched in January 1915. The asylums in the United Kingdom were sorted into 9 Groups. One asylum in each group would be cleared of its current patients, who would be transferred into the others in the Group. The emptied building would then be converted into a military hospital.
The Birmingham City Asylum at Rubery Hill was chosen from the Midlands region's Group 4 of asylums, together with its annexe at Hollymoor. These became the 1st and 2nd Birmingham War Hospitals, with 1100 and 930 beds respectively. In all, 1334 patients were relocated to other asylums, including some very violent cases. The first military casualties were received on 5 July 1915 (Hollymoor) and 30 July 1915 (Rubery). 1st BWH closed on 31 March 1919, having treated 20,000 casualties. 2nd BWH closed on 1 March 1920, having treated 16,800 men. In the later stages of the war, Hollymoor had been converted into a specialist Orthopaedic Hospital



Hollymoor Hospital
Date founded: 1900
Date opened: 6th May 1905
Date closed: July 1994
Location: Tessalls Lane, Northfield, nr. Longbridge, Birmingham, Warwickshire
Architect: William Martin & Martin
Layout: Compact Arrow
  Recommended reading - History of Hollymoor Hospital by Fay Crofts