St George'S Hospital

STAFFORD

SJ9223NW GAOL SQUARE 590-1/9/30 (East side) 17/12/71 St George's Hospital

II

Formerly known as: Staffordshire General Lunatic Asylum GAOL SQUARE. Mental hospital. 1818, by Joseph Potter; extended 1849-50 and later. Georgian style. MATERIALS: brick with ashlar dressings; hipped slate roof. Long symmetrical range with projecting wings and recessed end wings of later date; rear has varied original and later wings including chapel and water tower. EXTERIOR: 4 storeys; 5-window centre flanked by 5-window ranges, 2-window projections and further 5-window ranges; end projections with probably later 2-window wings with 3-window returns; 3-storey, 9-window end wings with end projections. Plaster plinth, platt band over ground floor becoming 1st floor sill band to centre, 2nd floor sill band and top frieze and cornice. Entrance to 1st floor has architrave, frieze and consoled cornice, overlight and C20 glazed doors, porch has paired Doric columns, frieze and cornice with blocking course, flanking walls with lanterns; 2 curved flights of stairs with enriched iron balusters, the front wall rebuilt with C20 entrance. Ground floor has round-headed windows with 12-pane sashes, 10 have upper radial glazing bars; projections have windows set behind 2 round arches with imposts and keys; end projections have tripartite windows with angle pilasters and gabled lintels, similar single windows to wings. 1st and 2nd floor windows have friezes and cornices over 12-pane horned sashes; 3rd floor windows have rubbed brick flat arches over 6-pane horned sashes, those to projections and wings with plain lintels. Returns similar, with end tripartite windows and inserted fire escapes and entrances; round-headed entrances have triple windows above in round-headed recesses, top Diocletian window. Lower wings have similar windows; with 2-window end projections; canted bays with tripartite windows and 2-window end projections with projecting covered stairs to all floors, T-plan with front verandahs. Varied stacks, including 2 large stacks to main range with quoins and cornices. Rear has varied contemporary and later wings; gabled chapel wing has bell cote and triplet of lancets in arched recess and flanking lancets to transepts which have double-gabled returns with triplets; water tower with tank and truncated stack. (Victoria County History of Staffordshire: Greenslade MW: A History of Stafford, taken from V.C.H.: London: 1979-: 235; Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Staffordshire: London: 1974-: 247).

Listing NGR: SJ9240223775