Oakwood Hall - WW1 Auxiliary Hospital, Rotherham

Today Oakwood Hall stands within the grounds of Rotherham District General Hospital. It was originally built in 1856 as a home for James Yates, who was a local stove grate manufacturer. However, by the 1890s the house had passed from the Yates family in to the hands of a solicitor named Colin Mackenzie Smith, who resided at the property with his wife Wilhelmina Ruth Smith and their six live-in servants, which included a cook and footman. The couple also employed a coachman and gardener, both of whom lived in the nearby Oakwood Hall cottages. In 1911 another of the cottages was rented by local photographer, Fred Shaw, who's camera would later go on to capture images of the hall while it was in use as a military hospital. Once war was declared, the sixty-six year old Colin Mackenzie Smith vacated the house and offered it up for use by the war office. Not long after the house was converted into a Class "A" Auxiliary hospital. The facility was equipt with a 100 beds for wounded soldiers to convalesce in.

Oakwood Hall 'New Ward' by photographer Fred Shaw
Postcard from my personal collection

This postcard is just one in a series produced by the previously mentioned Rotherham based photographer, Fred Shaw. Fred's studio was located just a few streets away in the town centre. The top photograph shows injured soldiers convalescing in the hospital's 'new ward', which was located in a glass conservatory attached to the rear of the building. The bottom photograph shows the staff stood on a balcony. If you view the full sized image you will see the faces of soldiers peering out from behind the nurses.

The hospital was mainly staffed by local members of the VAD. Miss Elizabeth Sinclair White was engaged as commandment and Matron. She was assisted in running the hospital by Miss Martha Baker, who undertook the role of quarter master. For the majority of the war the hospital cared for patients without incident, that was until the Summer of 1918, when tragedy struck and a fire broke out at around dinnertime on Saturday 22nd June. It caused £6000 worth of damage, which is the equivalent of just under £300,000 in today's money. 

Staff outside Oakwood Hall Auxilliary Hospital

The blaze was ignited by a spark from the kitchen chimney. At the time, the hospital was caring for 97 patients, 20 of who were incapacitated. Rotherham Corporation Fire Brigade was summoned to tackle the fire. Thankfully all the patients were rescued and there were no fatalities, however fireman Harry Thorpe was seriously injured when a ceiling fell on him as he attempted to dowse the fire with a hose. Another man received cuts from breaking glass. Before the fire took hold, staff and able bodied patients were able to save the furniture. The interior of the hall was completely gutted and no longer habital. The remaining patients were transferred to nearby Moorgate Hospital and the severest cases were sent to Sheffield.

Colin Mackenzie Smith never returned to the house after the war. Instead the hall under went renovations to convert it in to a TB Sanatorium. Oakwood Hall was given grade II status in 1986 and is currently the property of the NHS.

Sources______________________
Barnsley Chronicle - June 29th 1918
1901 & 1911 Census
Historicengland.org.uk - listing for Oakwood Hall
Redcross.org.uk - WW1 Auxiliary Hospitals
Rotherham-images.co.uk/
Whiston-heritage-society.co.uk/

The Great War Memorial, Rotherham

Rotherham War Memorial
Postcard from my personal collection

Rotherham war memorial was unveiled at Clifton Park on Sunday 26th November 1922, in a ceremony attended by General Sir Ivor Maxse KCB CVO DSO, He was a senior British Army officer who had served in the First World War, and at that time held the position of General Officer Commanding-in-Chief for Northern Command.

The monument was designed by local architect Major J E Knight and built by Mr. F. Tory & Sons, along with several other Yorkshire artisans. The memorial stands just inside the park gates, (on the junction of Doncaster Road and Clifton Lane.) The sandstone cenotaph is flanked by a curtain wall to the rear, which bears the names of 1,304 individuals who lost their lives during WW1. The names are inscribed across thirteen bronze panels and are grouped according to the regiment and service in which they served. The centre panel has an inscription which reads:

"1914 Sic virescit industria 1918 

 To commemorate the men of Rotherham

Who during the great war 1914-1918 

Gave the most that love can give 

Life itself 

For God, For King, For Country

And Freedom of the World. "

After the Second World War, the inscription on the main cenotaph was updated to include a dedication to those who died in the conflict, but no individual names were added at that point. It would be almost 70 years before that would occur.  On 19th February 1986 the memorial was given grade II listed status. The inscription on the cenotaph currently reads:

"For

Remembrance

If I should fall think only this of me 

There is some corner of a foreign field 

That is forever England

The World War 1939 - 1945"

In 2015 the names of  a 1,124 individuals who fell in the second world war were added to a separate memorial at the rear of the cenotaph's curtain wall. This memorial was the result of an eight year fundraising campaign undertaken by the Friends of Clifton Park and the Rotherham Advertiser. The group managed to raise £30,000 in donations for the memorial's construction. On Wednesday 16 September 2015 Rev Canon David Bliss led a service of dedication where the new memorial was unveiled to the public.