Lowther Hospital is a Grade II listed building in the Wakefield local planning authority area, England. First listed on 25 March 1968. Almshouses and schoolroom.
Lowther Hospital
- WRENN ID
- grim-mullion-thunder
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Wakefield
- Constituency
- Normanton and Hemsworth MP: Jon Trickett (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 25 March 1968
- Type
- Almshouses and schoolroom
- Address
- Lowther Hospital, 94 96 and 98, Pontefract Road, Ackworth
- OS grid reference
- SE 440 179
- Coordinates
- 53.6562, -1.33431
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
Lowther Hospital is a group of almshouses and a schoolroom, endowed in 1741 by Mary Lowther. The building has been altered and restored and is constructed of sandstone ashlar with a stone slate roof and modern brick chimneys. Originally designed as a rectangular range of six units, it now consists of four units. The single-storey structure is symmetrical and features a Classical style.
The central section has a three-bay pediment that projects forward and includes a central doorway with a tall six-pane overlight, all framed by a Gibbs surround that features a triple keystone and a cornice. Above the cornice is a pedimented panel with slightly worn painted lettering that reads:
MARY LOWTHER ERECTED & ENDOWED THIS (H)OSPITAL FOR A (SCHO)OL MASTER & SIX POOR WOMEN.
On either side of the doorway are 12-pane sashed windows, also with Gibbs surrounds. The side ranges now have doors and 9-pane sashed windows arranged in the pattern a-b-b-b-a-b and b-a-b-b-b-a, all with raised plain surrounds, although the second window on each side was formerly a door. The building has a hipped roof with six ridge chimneys. There is a modern addition to the rear that matches the original style and features a hipped roof, while the rear wall is made of brick.
Local climate
Lowther Hospital receives an average of 770 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 63% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 94% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 38 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 71% of listed buildings. Of these, 19 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- Sale history — 1 transaction since 2009
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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