St Mary's Hospital was a mental health facility near Stannington,

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, England. It was opened in 1910 and closed permanently in 1995. It was finally demolished in 2015.

History

The facility was designed by

George Thomas Hine George Thomas Hine FRIBA (1842–25 April 1916) was an English architect. His prolific output included new county asylums for Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire, Surrey, East Sussex and Worcestershire, as well as extensive additions to many others. Bi ...

in an

echelon formation An echelon formation () is a (usually military) formation in which its units are arranged diagonally. Each unit is stationed behind and to the right (a "right echelon"), or behind and to the left ("left echelon"), of the unit ahead. The name of ...

. Construction started in 1910 and it opened as the Gateshead Borough Lunatic Asylum in 1914. The hospital was requisitioned for military use during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and then became Gateshead County Borough Mental Hospital in 1920. A nurses' home was completed in 1928, as well as various other additions to the site. Part of the hospital was also requisitioned for military use during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The hospital joined the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

in 1948. After services transferred to

Bensham Bensham is a suburban area in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. The area consists mainly of residential properties, with a range of predominantly terraced housing, built between the late 1890s and the 1980s. Commun ...

General Hospital, the hospital closed in 1995. Most of the hospital was demolished in 2015 to make way for housing. However, some buildings remain in varying forms, including 34 former staff houses known locally as ''The Villas'', as well as the former gate-keeping lodge, Chief Medical Superintendent's Home and the Administration block, now known as ''St Mary's Inn''.

References

Defunct hospitals in England Former psychiatric hospitals in England Stannington, Northumberland {{England-hist-stub