The Exeter Eye Hospital Including Boundary Walls To North And East

The Exeter Eye Hospital (also known as the West of England Eye Infirmary) on Magdalen Street is an eye hospital built between 1902 and 1908 to designs by Alfred Brumwell Thomas, with Stephens and Son of Exeter as contractor. The building is constructed in dark red brick laid in English bond with ashlar stone dressings and stone banding, featuring slate roofs and chimney stacks with brick shafts banded with stone. It exemplifies the Baroque revival style.

The hospital follows an asymmetrical plan with the principal entrance on the north side overlooking Magdalen Street, with a courtyard in front. Construction occurred in phases: the east wing overlooking Bull Meadow and the central block were completed by 1900 and opened in 1901, while the west wing, which required demolishing the old hospital, was nearly complete by 1908. Thomas's original design was never fully realised according to historical sources.

The exterior is well-preserved. The building rises three storeys with moulded stone stringcourses at first floor level and a continuous sill band below the second floor windows, topped by a stone eaves cornice. Original windows throughout retain nearly all their original small-pane sashes. Chimney shafts feature two deep projecting cornices, the lower on brackets.

The main range presents an asymmetrical north front of 13 bays plus 1 bay—a projecting corner turret at the west end. The entrance block comprises the three central bays, which break forward and flank shallow turrets with diagonal shafts topped by elaborate domed stone finials. Between these turrets, coped brickwork ramps up to a freestanding stone plaque with pilasters and scrolled pediment, inscribed "The West of England Eye Infirmary, rebuilt 1901".

The principal doorway features a recessed porch with segmental-headed archway, keystone, and moulded eared architrave. Round-headed recesses sit above all windows except the entrance block. Ground floor windows flanking the entrance have round heads with glazed panels above the sashes and keystones attached to the first floor string. First floor windows are segmental-headed with glazed panels above sashes. The second floor has two bands of stone decoration and segmental-headed sashes divided by paired pilasters.

The courtyard in front is bounded by attractive contemporary ramped brick walls with moulded stone coping (railings missing). The walls curve inward to two gateways with square section brick piers topped by moulded cornices and obelisk finials on stems with egg and dart cornice. At the east end, the six-bay inner return of the east wing continues in matching style with a porch in the inner angle. The north end of this wing has a three-storey canted bay with domed lead roof. The east elevation facing Bull Meadow comprises 15 bays with two separately-roofed canted stair turrets with tall finials, with a single-storey block adjoining at the north. The rear elevations of the main block and west wing are slightly plainer, lacking the stone banding of the front and east elevations, but retain original windows. Tall coped brick walls bound the site to the rear.

Inside the porch, the ceiling is a coffered plaster vault. The entrance hall contains a good marble chimney piece probably from an earlier house and a memorial plaque above. Other original interior features included glazed brick walls and ceiling in corridors and operating theatre, and a tessellated marble floor.

The Exeter Eye Hospital was the first provincial eye hospital established following Moorfields' foundation in 1804. The competition for the new building, designed to accommodate 85 patients and an outpatients department, was assessed by Charles Barry. The estimated cost was £19,000 with an additional £6,000 for furniture and fittings, raised by public appeal. Thomas (1868-1948) designed several town halls in neo-Baroque or Baroque-Classic style, including Belfast City Hall, Stockport Town Hall, and Plumstead Town Hall. The hospital is an impressive and unspoiled building forming an important focal point on the edge of Exeter City centre.