Hospital’s 100-year-old story told in words and pictures

Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham is marking its centenary with a booklet and display telling the story of the site.

Today the hospital has become a sprawling mass of buildings, including the recently built Queens Centre for Oncology and Haematology, Daisy Appeal building and centre for cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery.

The buildings occupy 80 per cent of what was once an open and wooded estate belonging to a prominent Hull banker Thomas Thompson, whose crenellated home gained the “castle” name. In its early days the site, purchased by Hull Corporation in 1911, was used for a TB sanatorium and in the 1920s an infectious diseases hospital was built. Most patients were discharged home from the sanatorium as war with Germany drew nearer in 1939.

As diseases like smallpox were eradicated, facilities became redundant and new developments reflect the effort being put into tackling two of the region’s biggest killers – heart disease and cancer.

Trust archivist Michael Pearson has put together a booklet, copies of which are available on 01482 674486.

A display will be on show from October.