Help save Winsford Cottage Hospital

The Landmark Trust has launched an appeal to preserve Grade Ii*-listed Winsford Cottage hospital in Devon, which has been on historic england’s heritage at Risk register since 2009.

Designed in 1899 by Arts-and-crafts architect Charles F. A. Voysey, the hospital is as important for its pioneering role in healthcare as for its architecture—it helped improve the lives of thousands of local people by giving them access to treatment.

Winsford was Voysey’s only cottage hospital and has retained many beautifully crafted fittings, including a golden mosaic floor, elegant fireplaces and graceful metalwork. After the hospital closed in 1998, a local trust tried to keep the building going for the community, but the effort soon proved too much. The Landmark Trust has now stepped in with a plan to secure its future, but this requires significant investment.

The charity, which has already received some money from the heritage Lottery Fund, needs to raise a further £355,000 within the next 12 months, so it’s now seeking donations ‘no matter how small’. ‘Winsford hospital is a rare building that is both architecturally exceptional and genuinely transformed the lives of ordinary people,’ says Landmark Trust director Dr Anna Keay. ‘We want to save it from destitution and to give it a new future as a Landmark Trust property. But we can’t do it alone and are appealing to all who care about such places to join us and support our appeal.’

If the fundraising campaign is successful, renovation work could start in summer 2018. For more information or to make a donation, visit www.landmarktrust.org.uk