01 January 2023 , 10:56
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Explorers have captured images from inside an old military hospital for World War One soldiers which lay abandoned for decades.
The eerie site in Ormskirk, Lancashire, later became a college before being left to ruin over 30 years ago - but now the derelict block is due to be refurbished.
It will eventually become part of Turning Point Academy, with headteacher Mike Marshall excited for his bustling special school to expand into the historical site.
It was originally founded as Ormskirk Dispensary just after the French Revolution in 1797 by a local doctor called Joseph Brandreth.
Just over a century later, in 1896, it was re-opened as a cottage hospital - then becoming known as Ormskirk General Hospital and Dispensary and also Brandreth Hospital.
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It was absorbed by the NHS in 1948.
The premises also treated wounded servicemen who returned from the front after the Armistice of November 1918.
The site has been abandoned for decades (Exploring with Jake)Among the injured soldiers convalescing there was local man Private Benjamin Crompton.
He underwent six operations and had been through 10 different hospitals before arriving in Ormskirk with shrapnel still embedded in his body.
Local historian Dot Broady-Hawkes notes: “Finally, Royal Army Medical Corps surgeon Major Thomas Caldwell Littler Jones of Liverpool was able to successfully remove the shrapnel fragments that were causing so many problems and Benjamin was able to return home.”
Meanwhile, among the war time great and the good to have walked through the wards was brave Scottish matron Lizzie Violet Macbeth Robertson, in charge, along with her sister Lillian who was a nurse there.
The hospital treated wounded WW1 soldiers in 1918 (Exploring with Jake)In recognition of her bravery and dedication at the temporary military hospital, Lizzie received the Royal Red Cross 2nd class in August 1919, and was listed in the London Gazette by the Secretary of State for War.
Yet the site was to close the doors as a medical facility around 1990, according to the National Archives.
It briefly served as a site for the former Ormskirk College - now West Lancashire College, based in Skelmersdale, and subsequently lay empty for years.
It opened in the 1700s and was absorbed by the NHS in 1947 (Ormskirk Advertiser)The deserted spot fell into disrepair and was dubbed an eyesore in recent years, facing threats of vandalism and trespass as well as needing 24 hour on site security to deter anti-social behaviour.
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A planning application, submitted in 2019, to demolish the former college and replace it with a purpose built employment space, was withdrawn.
However, the site briefly stepped back into the spotlight during a time of national emergency when its car parks were used for the Covid-19 vaccination programme during the pandemic.
And fresh proposals to turn the former college and learning centre into 55 flats were registered at West Lancashire Borough Council in October last year (2021), under plans which would also see an employment space and a pharmacy as possible options as well as elderly care facilities.
It was a cottage hospital before briefly becoming a college (DOT HAWKES)Heritage notes submitted with planning documents say: “Whilst unlisted, the building has some local value/ significance and is identified as being a ‘positive’ building which contributes to the character and appearance of the Conservation Area.”
But it has since been absorbed into the new school, which had its first OFSTED report in December 2019.
Mr Marshall said: "The site in question has been a school for the last 18 months - Turning Point Academy.
"There are two blocks on the site, one occupied by the school and the derelict block - which is about to start getting refurbished, and the school will be expanding into it."
Eerie images of the site pre-revamp have been captured, reports LancsLive.
Photographers based at urban explorer Exploring with Jake have shared their findings on social media, saying in a post of December 4: “In the mid-90s, the hospital closed and became the Ormskirk campus of West Lancashire College, who moved out a few years ago leaving the site vacant.”
Rarely seen glimpses of the premises show stunning murals which once adorned the children's ward, dark corridors, faded grandeur and falling plasterwork.
Also shown are images from the outside, showing overgrown trees and shrubs which have sprung up in front of boarded up doors and windows.
The images prompted a flood of nostalgic responses and online discussions from former students online.
Gemma Caunce said: “So many fab memories...so sad it looks like this now.”
Mark Sharrock said: “I loved that place. Met some brilliant people…. A few of those shots I distinctly remember.”
Similarly, another commentator said: “This is so sad. Do you remember us trying to do that seance in the old theatre on our break between classes?”
And another added: “They were great times and everyone got something from media studies!”