Christmas Close Hospital

Christmas Close Hospital, built in 1836 by architects Carter and Hyde, was originally designed as a workhouse. The building features colourwashed Flemish bond brick and hipped Welsh slate roofs. It has a Greek cross plan with an octagonal central part and an administration block extending across the southern arm. The south front of the administration block is three stories high and has a central projecting bay with five windows. The doorcase includes moulded pilasters and carved brackets supporting a flat hood over a two-panel frieze. The windows are six-over-six pane sashes with gauged brick arches, and the first-floor windows are set on a plat band. The block is flanked by one-storey wings with blocked windows. At the rear, there is a three-storey axial wing with four windows, connected to the octagonal tower and flanked by three-storey east and west wings, each featuring a half-hipped two-storey wing at the back. The fenestration is similar throughout, with flat and segmental arches over six-over-six and eight-over-eight pane sashes, except for the cast-iron six-over-six pane casements in the tower and a lean-to on the left side of the axial wing. The interior has not been inspected. The design of the Greek cross plan is based on Samuel Kempthorne's designs from the first report of the Poor Law Commissioners in 1835.