St Nicholas Hospital Walls And Railings

St Nicholas Hospital walls and railings were built in 1811, with some repairs and insertions made in the mid-20th century. The architects were Edward Holl and William Pilkington from the Navy Board. The structure is made of brick and cast iron. The walls encircle the west, south, and east sides of the site, with the eastern section having been partly rebuilt in the mid-20th century. The railings are located to the north, at the entrance, and return to the west. The south and east walls feature a plinth course and pilasters that rise to a saw-toothed cornice, creating regular recessed panels, with brick coping on top. The eastern wall is plain. The railings are original to the central section, which is between rendered brick piers. They include circular-section verticals with billet collars at the neck and foot, billets at the junction with a diamond-section top rail, and obelisk finials above a reduced palmette bobbin. The circular-section standards also have billet collars and rise to finials shaped like naval crowns. This structure closes the road front to the former Naval Hospital, and the area inside once contained officers' houses for the hospital.