Wharncliffe War Hospital - Part two

Two patients stand in the hospital grounds on this postcard.

I have just added several more WW1 era postcards of Wharncliffe War Hospital to my collection. I have already written a brief history of the hospital for my blog which can be read here.

When the war was not over by Christmas 1914 as many hoped, the government began to realise that the number of hospital beds they had allocated for the treatment of invalided servicemen would be far from sufficient for the large number of wounded returning home from the battlefield. They knew that they would need to open more facilities dedicated to care of the injured than had previously been anticipated. Many stately homes had already been given over to the war office for this exact purpose. However, they now needed to look at other options for conversion into military hospitals, most asylums were vast and more importantly, already kitted out with medical equipment. In Spring 1915 the war office undertook the decision to convert existing asylums into military hospitals. One such facility to be requisitioned for military use was the South Yorkshire Asylum, which operated as The Wharncliffe war hospital for the duration of the war. The facility started out with 1500 beds, however according to local newspaper reports this rose to over 2000 at the height of the war. The Wharncliffe finally discharging it's last military patient in July 1920. After which it returned to it's previous function and name. The asylum was a large complex of buildings and was practically a village community within itself. Located on the outskirts of Sheffield not far from Hillsborough. Today the clock tower building has been converted into luxury flats, and lies in the center of a modern housing estate.

No.1 Wharncliffe War Hospital, Real Photo By E. Hawlet, Hillsbro.

A group of patients and staff in the hospital grounds by W.R Moore, Photographer, Langsett Road, Sheffield.

The building as it stands today in 2017.

All postcards from my own personal collection.