The Retreat Hospital

The Retreat Hospital

This is a workhouse, now in use as a hospital. Built circa 1840, with alterations and additions in the 20th century. The building is constructed of coursed elvan stone rubble with granite dressings and some granite ashlar. The roofs are slate with lead rolls to hips and ridge, hipped in form, with stacks featuring rendered shafts.

The workhouse is planned in three parallel ranges. The front range is a single-storey structure containing a central gateway with warden's accommodation and offices in single-storey wings on either side. The main workhouse occupies the central range, which features a central polygonal tower containing an entrance hall at ground floor and a kitchen wing to the rear. To the left and right are wings containing dining halls, one for men and one for women, with cross wings at the end of each providing living and sleeping accommodation. The rear range is a long two-storey block of uncertain original function, probably containing work rooms. This plan follows the standard layout of a 19th-century workhouse, with 20th-century additions that do not obscure the original arrangement.

The front range is symmetrical and single-storey. The entrance is in a tall centrepiece with a pediment featuring large modillions. It has a round arch with voussoirs and rusticated jambs with imposts, and is fitted with fine 19th-century cast iron gates with knob finials. A round vault within contains doors and windows. The wings to each side have bay arrangements of 2:3:2, with the central bays broken forward and furnished with three 12-pane sashes with voussoirs and keystones. The outer bays have similar 12-pane sashes. One window to the left and right has been replaced with a 20th-century door. At the rear are hipped dormers with 16-pane sashes; most ground-floor windows are 20th-century replacements.

The main central range features a central octagonal three-storey tower with six-bay wings to the right and left, and cross wings at the end of each. The front centre is canted with a 1:3:1 bay arrangement; all windows are 12-pane sashes with keystones. There is a central four-panelled door with overlight and cornice. The windows at second-floor level are round-arched sashes with radial glazing bars. A pediment with large modillions crowns the front, with stacks to the right and left, and similar pediments at the sides and rear. The side wings are two-storey, with some original 16-pane lights remaining with keystones at first-floor level; some have been replaced with 20th-century sashes. Ground-floor windows are 15-pane sashes with keystones, some replaced by half-glazed 20th-century doors. The cross wings each have one bay to front and rear with similar windows. 20th-century L-plan wings are attached to the front. The outer sides of the cross wings have 20th-century replacement sashes and doors. To the rear right is a single-storey porter's lodge with two doors and one window; this has been raised in height and attached to the right-hand cross wing. The rear of the main range has the central tower with 12-pane lights with keystones at first-floor level and round-arched sashes at second-floor level, as on the front; a central window is blind. Attached to the rear centre is the single-storey kitchen with a raised hipped roof featuring a glazed clerestory, and 20th-century additions to each side. The wings to the right and left have sashes at ground and first-floor level as on the front, with 20th-century two-storey additions to the right and left. A single-storey 20th-century addition is present at the cross wing to the right. The rear range is two-storey with a nearly symmetrical front of four central bays and single-storey four-bay wings to the right and left. The central four bays have a single-storey canted bay to the right and left with sashes, a 20th-century door, and sash between; the first floor has paired sashes to the right and left and two central sashes. One bay is set back to the left and two to the right, both two-storey with sashes. The single-storey wings to the right and left have three small gables over tall sashes and 20th-century doors.

The interior has been substantially altered in the 20th century for hospital use. In the main range, the central polygonal block contains a staircase at each side. Food would have been prepared in the kitchens and brought through the entrance hall to each dining hall, with living accommodation at the end.