York Historic Environment Record

In 1854 a new military hospital was built on the opposite (west) side of Fulford Road to replace the first which had stood in the corner of the barrack site and had housed only 24 patients in 1853; the old building was demolished in 1862. The new hospital was enlarged in 1878, and in 1893 it accommodated over 100 patients and 20 men of the Army Hospital Corps. It could accommodate 120 patients in 1906.

'The barracks', in A History of the County of York: the City of York, ed. P M Tillott (London, 1961), pp. 541-542.

This was a military hospital for military patients only from 1862 to 1949. A 'Civilian Wing' was leased to York (A) and Tadcaster Group HMC, but one ward was retained for military purposes. The hospital was for civilian use only from 1959 to closure in 1976.

National Archives

On the West side of the Fulford Road stretching down to the river Ouse is another part of York military history that is now almost completely removed. Here were two significant sets of buildings, the military hospital and the Ordnance Store Department. While the hospital has completely gone, the staff accommodation buildings survive in Ordnance Lane and some of the Ordnance Depot buildings have modern uses.

A brief history of the hospital is described in 'The barracks', A History of the County of York: the City of York (1961), which states that it was built in 1854, although another source states 1862. There was originally a hospital in the far corner of the Cavalry barracks, but this was very small and could only take about 20 patients and this was demolished in 1862.

According to the Rev. Caesar Caine writing in 1893 in his magnificent 'Martial Annals of York', "the hospital was once attached to the Cavalry Barracks, but in recent years new hospital buildings were built on the opposite side of the road. These premises were enlarged in 1878. There is accommodation for upwards of 100 patients, a barrack room for twenty men of the Army hospital Corps, and every other adjunct calculated to perfect the utility of so necessary an institution".

The site developed further in the 20th century and became a major hospital. Four blocks of married quarters, known as Hospital Fields, were built near the hospital in 1924. ​In the 1950's a civilian wing was opened with one large ward and an operating theatre. Later two more wards opened providing about 60 beds. It continued to be used by the Army until 1958 when it was then run solely as a civilian hospital with medical and surgical wards. It finally closed on the 4th December 1976 and was subsequently demolished.

Derived from the website of the Fishergate, Fulford and Heslington Local History Society
https://ffhyork.weebly.com/military-hospital--ordnance-depot.html

War Department, later War Office, later Ministry of Defence 1862-1976. Leased for use of York 'A; Group Hospital Management Committee and successors 1949-1976.

Military Hospital, Fulford Road York was built in 1862 by the War Dept and subsquent extensions took place in 1879, 1914 and during the Second World War. In 1949, owing to staff shortages, the War Office proposed to transfer patients from the Military Hospital to Catterick Camp from 1/7/1949, retaining only out patients at the Military Hospital. York a Group Hosptial Management Committee asked Leeds Regionsal Hosptial Boared whether vacant hiospital accomodaiton could be adapted for civilian use. A lease was negotiated and finalised with the military authorities on 15/11/1949. The military retained one wing, while York A Group would operate a Civilian Wing. The hospital was staffed by a military matron and personnel but civilian nurses in the Civilian Wing which opened on 9 January 1950 with one large ward and operating theatre. Two further wards were opened that year and the three wards provided 60 beds.

The Military Hospital was used for less urgent civilain cases and poster operative are transferred from City and County hospitals. Routine and minor surgical procedures were undertaken. Physiotherapy was available for in patients, and there were no out patient services. From 1956 student nurses were sent to the Military Hospital from their school at St Mary's Hospital to gan surgical experience. In 1958 the military decided to give up ann use of the hospital and the Regional Hospital Boared asked York A Group in 1959 for a report on the possible future use of the Military Hospital. The report from 4 February 1959recommended that the hospital be retained for civilian use and leased for a further period until the new district hiospital in York was complete. The former military ward was upgraded and reponeded traising the beds to 88 from 1963 onwards in four wards; two medical and two surgical. By 1976 the hospital was used for surgical cases onlyand most patients were admitted from the City and County Hospitals.

Other former military buildings were adapted. Ward 5, a prefabricated building, was rennovated for use by the National Hospital Service Reserve as a training ward in 1962. A building at the rear of the hospital was altered and rennovated and was used from 1963 as the York School for Occupaitonal Therapy. Extnesions were made in 1968 and an used section of Ward 5 was converted to a gym, workroom and kitchen. Throughout the 1960s minor improvements and repairs were made: boiler repairs, upgrading heating and lighting and redecoration. Maintenance costs were high and associated with the age of the building. The hospital was closed on 4 December 1976 and patients transferred to the new York District Hospital. The buildings were returned to the Ministry of Defence and subsquently demolished.


Katherine Webb "From county hospital to NHS Trust: the history and archives of NHS hospitals, service and management in York, 1740-2000" Borthwick Institute, University of York

Heritage Statement on buildings along Ordnance Lane 2021 by Humble Heritage suggest that the accomodation buildings may not be linked to the hospital and that the evidence is unclear.

NMR Information:

Related Events
1050602 Architectural Survey RCHME: Hospitals Project
1542925 Watching Brief THE EDGE, 23 HOSPITAL FIELDS ROAD

Related Archives
BF100917 YORK MILITARY HOSPITAL

Victoria County History. Edited by P M Tillott, 1961, A History of the County of York: the City of York (Bibliographic reference). SYO2398.

NMR, 2019, NMR data (Digital archive). SYO2214.

Humble Heritage, 2021, Ordnance Lane (Unpublished document). SYO2828.

Images from the Royal Logistical Corps Digital Archive, 2021, Ordnance Lane Arts and Crafts Buildings RAOC pictures 1923 (Unpublished document). SYO2615.

York Archaeology, 2023, 1-12 Ordnance Lane (Unpublished document). SYO3016.