Liverpool Hospitals - Mossley Hill Hospital

 

Mossley House

Mossley Hill Hospital came into being during First World War under the auspices of the 'American Red Cross Military Hospital No. 4', built by the War Office for the treatment of wounded soldiers circa 1916.
It was the first Red Cross Military Hospital for US Forces in Great Britain. The land was purchased (under lease) from the former Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Dr Edmund Muspratt, a wealthy Liverpool business man, by Major William Endicott (American Red Cross). It was on the19th of November 1917 that Major Endicott leased his country estate, Mossley Hill, located within fifteen minutes from the docks which facilitated the transport of soldiers. The Red Cross immediately began the renovation and equipment of the fine old mansion house as a war hospital. The original Mossley House, now part of the hospital, was designed by Alfred Waterhouse and built in 1868-9, one of his vast Gothic creations. It was built for general broker Lloyd Rayner (1822-1876), whose wife Anne remained there after his death into the 1880s. The beautiful ivy covered building, in the so-called 'cathedral' architecture, with its beautiful rose-window, was considered one of the finest residences in Liverpool which lent itself admirably to conversion into a hospital building. On the 9th of January 1918, the hospital received its first patients. Its capacity then included only forty beds, but eight barracks were soon constructed within the spacious grounds, which brought up the total capacity of the hospital to 500 beds. After the war it became a Ministry of Pensions hospital and then incorporated into the NHS in 1938. Today it is still serving the city of Liverpool under the auspices of Merseycare NHS trust. A Memorial plaque to the building of the Red Cross Hospital was unveiled on the 1st of July 2014.

A corner of one of the nine hutment wards

A new Mossley Hill Hospital is being built on an adjacent site, with the original Mossley House remaining as part of the overall complex. However the 16,000 sq ft, three-storey building gothic-style Victorian mansion, set in more than an acre of grounds, is to be auctioned in 2025. The new mental health facility will see the end of dormitory wards in the city. Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust's plans for the 80 bed facility will consolidate services from across Liverpool on the site of the old Mossley Hill Hospital. The new facility will provide a modern, therapeutic environment for patients to rest and recover from their crisis episode. The state of the art setting extends to the grounds with gardens, trees and facilities such as car charging points. The 80 bedded facility will be at the centre of a range of inpatient and community mental health services for Liverpool.

Built on the site of the old hospital on Park Avenue, the new facility uses material from the older buildings crushed on site for re-use in the development as part of a clear environmental strategy which also includes trees, gardens, cycle parking and car charging points. Although the historic mansion building on Park Avenue has been retained, the rest of the site had been cleared as it contained a mixture of mid 20th century building no longer fit for purpose. Material from the older buildings were crushed for re-use in the development with the demolition experts aiming to recycle 95 per cent of the salvage. 

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2025/08/liverpool-hospitals-sir-alfred-jones.html