Main Building, Bideford And Torridge Hospital

The main building of Bideford and Torridge Hospital, originally a workhouse, was constructed between 1837 and 1839. It features solid rendered walls and slate roofs that are both hipped and gabled. The building has an octagonal center with four short projections extending diagonally from it, and at the rear, there is a long kitchen wing. The structure stands three stories tall and is mostly plain, except for a porch supported by Doric pilasters and triangular pediments on each of the four diagonal projections. The original entrance door has two flush panels at the bottom, with the upper part now glazed. Most of the windows are sash windows, some with two or four panes. The wings are two stories high and entirely plain, having been re-windowed in the mid to late 20th century. The kitchen wing is single-storey and features a full-length lantern filled with ten-paned windows.

Inside, the building has been much altered, but it still retains an original wooden staircase with a narrow open well, cut strings, thin square balusters, and a handrail that ramps up over column newels.