News

Documents
Through the kindness of Lancashire Care NHS Trust, four bankers' boxes of old documents were handed into our care. On examination, these documents are primarily concerned with the purchase of land for the hospital, which was bought in parcels over a period of time. As with all legal matters, evidence of digging deep is present. We have douments from the 1970's under Queen Elizabeth II, back through to King Charles II. A wealth of history at our finger-tips! These documents will be recorded and then handed into the care of the County Records Office who are better suited to the preservation and care of such old artefacts! It was interesting to note that, amongst the documents was one from the Bishop of Manchester, dated 1895, authorising and consecrating the hospital cemetery. The Trust has been asked to notify us of who authorise the removal of the grave head-stones and where these have been moved to, the Trust assure us that they are investigating this matter and will get back to us as soon as possible. These documents have now been handed into the care of the Lancashire County Records Office, people who are better suited to the care of historic archives.

Hospital Cemetery
Confirmation has been received from the Planning Department of Preston City Council that the Cemetery is to remain untouched by the proposed building on the site and remain a Cemetery. Access will be from the South via the path from St John's Church. We have been informed that the proposed developer of the site intends to use the Church as the site HQ. A letter has been received from English Partnerships (EP) to confirm that the cemetery is not part of the redevelopment plans. Unfortunately, EP declined our offer to renovate the cemetery, at no cost to them; they did not give any reason. Copies of the document from the Bishop of Manchester have been made and laminated and will be attached to the gate of the old cemetery. These prove interesting reading.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

There are four War Graves in the cemetery from the First World War belonging to British Military Servicemen. The details are: 1. 29488 Private J Joyce, Suffolk Regiment, died 21st March 1918; 2. 51461 Private J Tattersall, East Lancashire Regiment, died 24th April 1918; 3. Tr4/64003 J M Jones, South Wales Borderers, died 5th April 1920; and 4. 16344 Private J Wilson, King's Shropshire Light Infantry, died 21st April 1920.

Annual Crosses of Remembrance will be planted during the week commencing 12th October 2009, on the War Graves as has become our custom. Negotiations are under way with the German equivalent of the Commonwealth War Gtraves Commission concerning the possibility of some sort of recognition for the German soldiers buried there, this is on-going.

Our enquires have borne out that the buildings are not protected under any status, and, as a result of this information, we have applied for Grade II Listing to be made available. A letter has been received from English Heritage, dated 5th June 2007, in which they announce their decision not to list the buildings at Whittingham. The reasons are as follows: "An extensive former County Asylum, first opened in 1873, and developed incrementally until 1914, as part of the final wave of asylum development in England. The original asylum complex, and its supporting recreational landscape have very strong local significance as part of a shared history of more than 130 years, and surviving elements of the hospital appear capable of adaptive re-use. However, the hospital is not considered to be of special architechural interest in a national context, being relatively late in date and having suffered the demolition of 2 annex complexes, alteration, and the removal of roof coverings to remaining parts of the site. Therefore, it does not merit listing."

Watercolours
There are still a few copies of the watercolours available, at £2.50 each.
The watercolours will be reproduced in A4 Landscape size as a print only. If these are required to be mounted and framed, this service can be obtained locally.
To order, you will need to state which print you want and the quantity. Listed below are (1) The Lake/Duck Pond; (2) North Lodge; (3) Cricket Field & Pavillion; (4) The Lawns/Superintendents House; (5) St John's Cottage and Post Office; (6) Cameron House; (7) St John's Church; (8) St Luke's Main Entrance; (9) Frank Gardham House; (10) St Margaret's.
It is hoped that by providing this facility, we will fulfil the promise renaged upon by the Guild Trust to its staff.
The original Watercolours have been deposited to the care of the Lancashire Museums Service and it is hoped that they will, in due course, launch an exhibition of Whittingham Hospital showing all the artifacts they have on deposit.

A new book has been published by local interest author Mark Cornwell about the history of Whittingham Railway. This is a must for all railway buffs. A great deal of research is obvious from the content of the book. The book is only available direct from the author and copies my be obtained by telephoning him directly on 01254 830754. This is a highly recommended read for those with an interest in Whittingham and particularly in the railway.

Mosaic
Thanks to the endeavours of members of 28DL a most wonderful mosaic depicting the Coat of Arms of the Duchy of Lancaster, has been uncovered. This marble mosaic is in excellent condition with only minor damage. Currently we are making approaches to many organisations who would be in a position to fund and remove this mosaic intact (without much luck!) and have it placed somewhere else, in public view, either in the remaining hospital grounds or possibly in one of Preston Parks. The mosaic is about 7' x 7' and if anyone knows about how much this proposed removal would cost and, how to obtain funding, please let us know. To date, all applications for assistance with the preservation of this remarkable item have gone unheeded or refused!
It would appear that help is not forthcoming on this issue and it is looking like the Mosaic is going to be lost to time!

Work has now commenced on compiling a database of information to be taken from the burial records currently held at the County Records Office. It is anticipated that this will be a long job, but at the end, will allow for all enquries about lost relatives, buried at Whittingham, to be answered.

Hospital Museum
We have now had the opportunity, following a few visits to the Museum of Lancashire, to view their holdings of artefacts from the old Hospital Museum. Most of the displays mentioned in the "inventory" of the Museum were present with, unfortunately, some notable exceptions. It is hoped that, in the not too distant future, permission will be secured from the authorities of the Museum to allow us to photograph the collection, at which time we would also be able to provide them with an up to date inventory of their holdings. We were pleased to have been in a position to donate some items we have recovered from the hospital in our official (with Managements' permission) tour of the site on closure in 1995, thus increasing the Museum's holdings. It is hoped that, in the not too distant future, we will be able to present a case to the authorities of the Museum to encourage them to allow an exhibition to be held, open to the public. This would be in a few years time, permission having been granted as it would take time to organise and promote such an exhibition. The Museum authorities have been very helpful in our quest to discover the whereabouts of the contents of the old museum. We have, however, been informed that the "tissue samples" which were on display in glass jars have all been destroyed on the instructions of the then Management of the Guild Trust following a panic over the tissue retention issue at Alderhey Chrildrens Hospital (not that anyone would have claimed ownership of the cut throat or other samples displayed!). The stomach contents of some patients which were removed after death are still in the collection, buttons, stones, pins etc. It was quite amazing to read that the largest of these collections was only discovered after the patient who had swallowed them, always unseen, only came to light after he collapsed at 08.15 in the morning and died that evening; there must be almost a pound in weight of swallowed items! There is some silverware retained, but not as much as can be remembered on display in the entrance hall of St Luke's by the Administrators' office. A special vote of thanks is given to John McGoldrick of the Lancashire Museums Service for his attentative help and assistance in our quest. We will continue to pursue this issue and attempt to bring to light other items as and when they are discovered. We have recently printed off a copy of the 1881 Census and it was interesting to note that the Chaplain at the time was Mr Palmour. Both he and his wife are buried in the cemetery at Whittingham.

We will be adding some links to other sites shortly. These are sites of people who have either been of help to us or have similar sites to our own, which may be of interest. Phil Knapman has collected a number of pictures of Whittingham Hospital and these can be viewed, in addition to this site, by clicking on the link (Whittingham pictures) at the bottom of the page. The content of this link will be updated on a regular basis to allow for viewing of the many pictures we have collected.

Web site Finance
This web site is run in a voluntary unpaid format where the costs are met primarily by the authors. The site is non-profit making. However, some kind people have offered to support us financially, and all such donations are more than welcome. Unless specified, the names of the donors are being kept confidential. For those who have made donations, our sincere thanks, they have been much appreciated.