Impressive private sanitorium in increasingly poor condition
(1866, architect unknown, Grade II*)
The state of the interior of this former private sanatorium for mentally handicapped children is appalling and clearly in a state of rapid decline. Fixtures such as fireplaces, switches and mouldings have been removed and graffiti and general destruction is visible throughout. Beyond that, the building is evidently suffering from an extreme case of damp and rot, making many of the floors unsafe. All this in a building listed at Grade II* because of its historic association with Dr Langdon-Down, and because of the intact survival of a rare private theatre. Normansfield hospital should have been developed in 2000 when permission was granted to convert the hospital into a hotel and restaurant and to build nearly 200 new homes in the grounds. The houses were built but the restoration of the historic hospital never happened. The hospital remains boarded up and a problem which gets harder to solve as its condition gets worse.