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70 years on... Reunion for Yorkshire castle's wartime babies
A YORKSHIRE landmark which dates to the 11th century and is mentioned in the Domesday Book has spent a dozen years accommodating guests as a luxury hotel.
But Hazlewood Castle once played host to a different kind of visitor – as a wartime maternity hospital providing expectant mothers with a safe haven from the Blitz.
It was requisitioned at the beginning of the war by the Ministry of Health to act as a 25-bed maternity hospital, and between 1939 and 1953 the building near Tadcaster saw around 5,000 babies born.
Yesterday more than 500 of them returned to the castle for a garden party celebrating the 70th anniversary of its conversion into a maternity hospital.
Guests travelled from as far away as Australia to return to their place of birth after the hotel appealed for "Hazlewood babies" to get in touch.
Hazel Hewitt was the first ever baby delivered at Hazlewood Castle, on September 15, 1939, a fortnight after Britain declared war on Nazi Germany.
The 69-year-old, who first visited the castle 25 years ago, travelled up from Norfolk to be a part of yesterday's celebration at her place of birth.
She said: "I wanted to be able to come back to where I was born for my 70th birthday to mark the occasion.
"I didn't know I was born at Hazlewood Castle until I was 17 when I joined the RAF and saw my birth certificate."
Although she spells her name as Hazel, appropriately enough her certificate as the first Hazlewood Castle baby shows her name spelt Hazle.
"It is lovely to think I was named after the place where I was born," she added.
While many Hazlewood babies travelled to Yorkshire from far afield yesterday, others have grown up in the surrounding area.
John Udakis, 61, and his sisters Eileen Johnson, 64, and Joan Dixon 62 , have always lived within 10 miles of their birth place. Their mother Bessie worked at Hazlewood for many years as a cook and cleaner while both Mr Udakis' wife Jane and Mrs Dixon's husband John were also born at the hospital.
Another of the guests yesterday was Jennifer Angus, who was delivered at the hospital by her aunt, an assistant matron.
Her parents travelled from London because of its reputation – and because her father was keen for her to play cricket for Yorkshire had she been a boy.
The 60-year-old, who now lives in Otley, said: "This is a very magical visit for me. At one point this hospital was at the forefront of pioneering healthcare and it is interesting to compare the NHS now with how it was back then.
"This isn't the first time I have been back. I came here on my 60th birthday and saw the delivery room where I was born and it was a very peculiar feeling – not many people have the opportunity to see their place of birth."
Other guests included married couple Annie and Stuart Hebden, aged 65 and 64 respectively, who now live in Copmanthorpe, York. The pair never knew each other until they met by chance in Selby, North Yorkshire, in 1999. They were married four years later.
Mrs Hebden's father, Pilot Officer Frederick Birks, flew Spitfires and Halifax bombers during the war and was tragically killed in action at the age of 23, less than a year after her birth. Mr Hebden's father was an aircraft mechanic
Mr Hebden, said: "It is not the sort of thing you mention when you first meet but it is great as it is another link that ties us together."
Hazlewood Castle Hotel's general manager Mark Booth said: "We have been staggered by the positive response to the event and are amazed that some guests have travelled from the other side of the world.
"Having said that, not many people have a castle listed on their birth certificate so we think this is worth celebrating."
Each of the Hazlewood babies' stories are being recorded and published in a book celebrating the building's history.
The maternity ward at Hazlewood Castle was officially closed on June 30, 1953.
In 1950s the property became a private home and remained one until 1972, when it was sold to a group of Carmelite friars.
In 1997 the building was opened to the public as the country house hotel.
A rich history that goes back over 900 years
The building is mentioned in the Domesday Book in the 11th century and the site overlooked the battlefield of the bloody Battle of Towton in 1461.
From Norman times until 1908, when it was sold, it formed part of the family estate of the Vavasours.
It was converted into a maternity hospital in 1939 at the outbreak of the Second World War and remained in use until 1953.
In 14 years, around 5,000 babies were born at the castle before the maternity unit closed and the building became a private home.
The 77-acre site was converted to a hotel in 1997 and has been short-listed for the hotel of the year in the White Rose Awards for Tourism 2009.
Work on the current Hazlewood Castle begun in 1283 by William Vavasour, a respected knight in the reign of Edward I.
In 1908 the Vavasours left Hazlewood after 900 years to go to the Attewe Valley near Marlborough in New Zealand, to begin running vineyards.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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