The Stretford Memorial Hospital closed down back in 2015 and since then has become an urban explorer’s dream. A creepy abandoned hospital where seemingly most of the equipment was just left – you’ll find a fair few videos on YouTube of people exploring its hallowed halls.
The hospital itself was built all the way back in 1850 as a private residence known as Basford House. It started out as a private residence and was then lent to the British Red Cross as an auxiliary hospital during the First World War. It was then converted into a maternity hospital in 1925, and one of the Bee Gee’s was even born here in 1958!
The hospital closed its doors for good in 2015, with all services being transferred to Trafford General Hospital just down the road. The site has just been left to rot since then, until this week that is.
Plans have been submitted to Trafford Council to transform and modernise the 2.5-acre site into a GP surgery and wellbeing centre. Entrepreneurial investor Mark Schofield has recruited architect Howard & Seddon Partnership to help.
Schofield wants to turn the former residence into a GP surgery, with the adjoining (more recent) wing turned into a day-care mental health and wellbeing centre. The two other single-storey buildings on the site would also be renovated to service the surgery.
The plans will need to be approved not just by Trafford Council but also by the site’s owner – the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust.
Hopefully, there will be some movement on this project soon, and we can not only get a fantastic piece of historical architecture back to its best but also offer more much-needed health services in the area.
