Wakefield Grammar School Foundation which owns buildings around Clayton Hospital urged to withdraw planning application for total demolition of the hospital and to reuse fine hospital building
Locally listed, 1879 extended circa 1900, William Bakewell
Clayton Hospital is one of a small number of non-listed buildings to feature on the Victorian Society’s Top Ten Endangered Buildings list. Its inclusion reflects the exceptional quality of the carved stone Tudor Revival building, as well as its prominent position within the St. John’s Conservation Area character appraisal, where it is the only building identified as a candidate for statutory listing; but it also reflects the urgency of the case. Although its principal tower is visible from two of the main roads into Wakefield, the hospital has fallen into disrepair since services were transferred to Pindersfield Hospital in 2012, and has recently had its lead flashings stripped from the roof. Its condition has become a bone of contention with the local grammar school, which has facilities on either side of the building, and it was previously hoped that, on taking ownership of the site, they might draw up plans for its restoration and revival. Instead, they have called for its demolition, submitting a planning application to clear the site and create a new and ‘iconic’ centrepiece for their estate. It seems inconceivable that the building cannot be incorporated into the schools’ plans to provide this.
The Victorian Society Director, Christopher Costelloe, said: ‘For the first time we have no entries on the Top Ten for London or the South East. We simply got far more nominations from areas like Yorkshire. This perhaps reflects the vastly different financial climate for development. But whatever the reason, I hope inclusion in the Top Ten will spur local authorities and owners to urgently find a way to bring these buildings back into use. At a time when there has been much discussion of the gap between the South East and elsewhere this is more important than ever. Retaining historic buildings like those in the Top Ten is vital to maintaining local identity and creating places in which people want to invest, live and work.’
Status Update / March 2026
In 2021, planning permission was granted to demolish most of the hospital and turn the site over to use as a sports field. Most of the buildings, developed in phases between the mid-nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, have since been demolished, but fortunately the pavilion, which dates back to 1854, remains. Whilst the scheme had originally centred on landscaping, parking, and boundary treatment works, the updated plans ensure that the building is restored and refurbished as a sports facility.