Administrative Block and Children's Ward is a Grade II listed building in the Bedford local planning authority area, England. First listed on 24 August 1994. Administrative block and children's ward.
Administrative Block and Children's Ward
- WRENN ID
- dark-pillar-hyssop
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Bedford
- Constituency
- Bedford MP: Mohammad Yasin (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 24 August 1994
- Type
- Administrative block and children's ward
- Address
- Administrative Block and Children's Ward, Britannia Road
- OS grid reference
- TL 046 488
- Coordinates
- 52.12835, -0.4724
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Administrative Block and Children's Ward, built in 1897/8 by H Percy Adams, is designed in the Free Renaissance style with Jacobean and Flemish details. It features red brick with terracotta dressings, a tiled roof, and brick stacks. The two-storey administrative block has attics and nine windows. At the center, there is a cupola with a finial atop the roof. The central projecting section consists of three bays, highlighted by a Dutch gable, a fretted balustrade, and octagonal corner turrets. The windows are mullioned and transomed, including a prominent five-light canted bay on the first floor. An elaborate doorcase is adorned with a swansneck pediment, featuring terracotta sculptures of a seated mother with two children, flanked by two medical practitioners in classical attire, created by Eames.
On either side of the central section are set-back areas with two bays, also featuring mullioned and transomed windows and gabled dormers. The projecting end bays have large gables supported by console brackets and include four-light canted bays on both floors. The building stands on a plinth.
To the rear, the ward block is a single-storey structure made of red brick with five gables. Inside the administrative block, there is a central Staircase Hall with an imperial staircase featuring wooden balusters and arched details at both the top and bottom, along with tessellated floors. The ground floor Committee Room is notable for its four Ionic columns and original fireplace.
Attached to the rear of the Administrative Block is the Children's Ward, which displays 20 ceramic nursery rhyme panels by W B Simpson and a tiled plaque over the entrance listing the names of the benefactors. The tiles, likely produced by Maw's, are considered some of the finest examples of early ceramic artwork in children's wards, and it is rare to find such panels still in place.
Local climate
Administrative Block and Children's Ward sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 95% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 91% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 54% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 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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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- 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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