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History of Moorgreen Hospital |
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Early
history
A series of round barrows,
dating
from the Bronze Age (2000-600 BC), have been discovered in the Moorgreen
area of the parish. There were five of these, all situated behind (i.e.
to the north of) the present Moorgreen Hospital site. One was excavated
in 1888 and an urn removed. It was excavated again in 1961. A hilltop
fort from the Iron Age was built on the ridge above the village around
600-100BC. A shutter telegraph station operated from the site during
the Napoleonic Wars, forming part of the line connecting London to
Plymouth. It was this station that gave the name to the nearby Telegraph
Woods.
The village was originally a hamlet which grew up around a track between
Romsey and Portsmouth. The hamlet had a chapel by 1552 primarily for
the use of the Lords of the manor of Allington. When the track became a
turnpike in the early 19th century, the hamlet began to grow. |
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Up to 1834
A parish
workhouse is believed to have operated in the early nineteenth century
at West End, at the north side of what is now the Botley Road.
The Moorgreen Hospital site has a long history. It was first developed
in the late 18th Century with a Poorhouse later built on the site in
1802. A Workhouse was constructed in 1848 and enlarged in 1887 and
1898. The original building consisted of four parallel wings based
around a central connecting corridor. The three storey entrance block in
front of Botley Road is still in use by the NHS and was an original part
of the Workhouse, although many alterations have taken place. |
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The Workhouse was known as the South Stoneham Union Workhouse and served
a large area including Bitterne, Botley, Bursledon, Chilworth,
Eastleigh, Hamble, Highfield, Hedge End, Hound, Itchen, Millbrook, North
Stoneham, Portswood, St. Mary's, St. Nicholas, Shirley, South Stoneham
and Swaythling parishes.
In front of the entrance block to the Workhouse are two single storey
buildings next to Botley Road. They were built to provide Tramp Wards
for casual vagrants to segregate them from the rest of the Workhouse.
These two buildings still remain and are currently used as stores by the
NHS. |
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The Workhouse also incorporated a farm, a laundry and a separate
Isolation Hospital. Children, as well as adults, were admitted to the
workhouse. The site was supervised by a Master and a Matron along with a
medical officer, nurses and other staff.
The South Stoneham Union was renamed Eastleigh in 1920. After 1930, the
workhouse became a Public Assistance Institution known as the West End
Institution. In 1948, it joined the newly formed National Health Service
as Moorgreen Hospital. Some of the original workhouse buildings still
survive on the Moorgreen Hospital site. |
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The site became a hospital for the elderly and infirm in the early 20th
Century and in the 1930s changed its name to the West End Institution.
The site became Moorgreen Hospital from 1948 as part of the newly formed
National Health Service. |
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