Former Secure Accommodation Range And Attached Yard Wall At King Edward VII Hospital

The former secure-accommodation range and attached yard wall at King Edward VII Hospital, originally part of the Windsor Union Workhouse, dates from the mid-19th century and has been altered over time. The building is constructed of brownish brick in Flemish bond and features Welsh slate roofs.

The exterior consists of a single-storey, 12-bay range at the south-west end, which was formerly used for sleeping accommodation, along with a walled yard on the north-west side. There is an adjoining range of similar length but with a slightly different roof pitch to the north-east. The south-west range has a lower-roofed outshut on the north-west side, which includes barred windows and small board-shuttered openings at low level. There are also barred windows below the eaves of the main block and in the rear wall. The south-west gable features a 4-panel door with a 4-pane overlight. The north-east range has barred windows and a pitched wooden roof, with a louvre on the rear slope and some inserted openings.

While the interior has not been inspected, the south-west range is reported to contain cell-like accommodation. This area was used as secure accommodation for vagrants who were taken in, bathed in a now-demolished bathhouse at the north-east end, fed in the adjacent block, and then housed in the south-west block for sleeping. In the morning, they worked in the yard, reportedly crawling out of the cells through the shuttered openings to break clinker, which was then passed out through holes in the yard wall before they were released.

The attached yard wall stands approximately 2 meters high and features a line of circular-patterned holes on the north-west side, representing an unusual survival of the workhouse organization.