Chester City Hospital, 1877-1994

The Chester City Hospital began life as the Chester Poor Law Union Workhouse on the outskirts of the city. In 1873, a new Chester Union Workhouse was built at Hoole in Chester at a cost of about £30,000. The design for the buildings was opened to competition and the winning plans were submitted by W Perkin and Sons. The new workhouse had a large T-shaped main building facing to the east, with a separate infirmary to its west and a school to the south. It was opened in 1877. The site location and layout are shown on the 1899 OS map.

Chester City Hospital Plan 1899

After 1930, the workhouse was renamed St James' Hospital. In 1948, it was transferred to a Hospital Management Committee following the inauguration of the National Health Service, and was again and fianally renamed Chester City Hospital.

After that date it was refurbished and converted into an acute and maternity hospital. During the 1950s, the City Hospital’s service expanded considerably. In the latter half of the 1960s a number of old buildings were demolished and 4 new prefabricate ward blocks were constructed in 1967/69. Following the opening of the Countess of Chester Hospital in 1983, the City Hospital ceased to be a acute hospital and it was converted into an Geriatric Hospital. It closed its doors for good when the final phase at the Countess of Chester was completed in 1994.

The buildings have now all been demolished.

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