The Masters House (Former Infirmary At Lymington Hospital)

The Masters House, formerly the infirmary at Lymington Hospital, was built for the Lymington Union Workhouse around 1845-1850, with early 20th-century and later alterations. The architect is unknown. The building is constructed of red brick in Flemish bond, featuring some vitrified headers, with stone cills and lintels, and has a clay tile roof.

It stands two storeys high with a rectangular plan, comprising five bays and a central projecting full-height entrance bay on the east elevation. The west elevation has a slightly smaller full-height central bay, and there is a small single-storey modern extension on the northwest side. The front and rear elevations are symmetrical, while the side elevations are blind. The entrance features a semi-circular arch, with stone steps and a wrought iron balustrade. There is a string course between the storeys and dentilled eaves. The hipped roof has lost its chimney stacks, and the external joinery is mainly original, including 6 over 6 pane sash windows, with later casements in the central bays.

Inside, each floor has one room deep on either side of a central staircase hall, with small rooms in the projecting central bays leading off the staircase landings. The staircase is a dog-leg design with stick balusters. Some original joinery remains, and the fireplace surrounds date to the early 20th century. A later glazed timber partition is present in the room above the porch.

Historically, this building served as an infirmary for the Lymington Union Workhouse, typical of the small infirmaries added to New Poor Law workhouses in the 1830s to isolate inmates with contagious diseases. It would have included male and female wards, nurse's accommodation, and sanitary facilities. Very few examples of such infirmaries survive today, making this a well-preserved and rare example of an early detached workhouse infirmary.