The Masters House (Former Infirmary At Lymington Hospital)

LYMINGTON AND PENNINGTON

693/0/10018 EAST HILL 20-JUL-05 Lymington Infirmary Former infirmary at Lymington Hospital

II Infirmary built for Lymington Union Workhouse. c1845-50 with early C20 and later alterations. Architect unknown. MATERIALS: Red brick in Flemish Bond with some vitrified headers; stone cills and lintels. Clay tile roof. PLAN: Two storeys high. Rectangular plan; five bays with central projecting full-height entrance bay to east elevation; west elevation has slightly smaller full-height central bay; small single-storey modern extension on NW side. EXTERIOR: Symmetrical front and rear elevations, side elevations blind. Entrance with semi-circular arch; stone steps and wrought iron balustrade. String course between storeys. Dentilled eaves. Hipped roof; chimney stacks gone. External joinery mainly original. 6 over 6 pane sash windows; later casements to central bays. INTERIOR: Each floor one room deep to either side of central staircase hall, with small rooms in the projecting central bays leading off the staircase landings. Dog-leg staircase with stick balusters. Some original joinery; fireplace surrounds early C20. Later glazed timber partition to room above porch.

HISTORY: Built as an infirmary to Lymington Union Workhouse (qv). It typifies the small infirmaries, usually detached, which were frequently added to New Poor Law workhouses of the 1830s shortly after their construction, for the purpose of isolating inmates with contagious diseases. Typically, it would have comprised a male and female ward at either side, nurse's accommodation and sanitary accommodation. Very few examples survive. SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: A well-preserved and very rare survival of an early detached workhouse infirmary.

SOURCES: Kathryn Morrison, The Workhouse (Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, 1999).