Main Building At Royal Albert Farm, Royal Albert Hospital

The main building at Royal Albert Farm, part of the Royal Albert Hospital, is a farm building dating from the late 19th century, likely designed by the architectural firm Paley and Austin. It is constructed from squared coursed sandstone rubble and features a green slate roof. The building has a wide-span roof with clerestorey ventilation. The upper section of the west wall is open, consisting of six bays separated by square stone piers that support the roof trusses, with the second bay open to ground level, creating a cart entrance. The east wall has a narrower ventilation gap below the eaves, and the roof trusses are supported by timber posts. The south gable wall includes a second cart entrance. To the north, there is a single-storey section that connects to a range extending at right angles towards the east. The eastern end of this range is two storeys high and features a gable wall facing the road. This wall has a first-floor doorway accessed by external stone steps with iron railings, and the half-hip of the roof extends downwards as a canopy supported by timber brackets. The north and south walls have first-floor window openings that rise above the eaves under hipped dormer roofs, also supported by timber brackets. To the south, the area between this wing and the second wing projecting towards the east is covered by a 20th-century corrugated asbestos roof. The building was constructed as part of the ancillary facilities for the Royal Albert Idiot Asylum, which was completed in 1873 and is now known as the Royal Albert Hospital.