Walk No: 191 Dechmont to Bangour Village Hospital (Circular walk)
Date: Wednesday 18th March 2015
Start Time: 11:00 a.m. (Dobbies)
Start Time: 11:00 a.m. (Dobbies)
Summary of Walk
March is usually a time of mist, drizzle and generally dreich days. Yes, it was time for Strollers to head off into the wilds of West Lothian to Dechmont for a walk round the site of Bangour Village Hospital. We met at Dobbies, allowing the Strollers to fortify themselves with the full breakfast before the walk and to head back in for the soup, cakes and scones afterwards. A lot of planning goes into this you know, it’s not just a random choice of location.
Luckily the weather changed and it was a nice calm almost bright day for the walk and twenty five Strollers (plus dog) headed out to walk through Dechmont village to the main entrance of what used to be Bangour Village Hospital (see below for some history of the hospital).
As we wandered round the hospital grounds looking at the various derelict buildings, it was interesting to find that some of us on the walk had previous links to the hospital through relatives who worked and stayed at the site. They told us about attending dances and playing badminton in the recreation hall. So it was a shame to see so many of the buildings in a bad state of repair. Also, some of the walkers had different connections to Bangour, being born at the General Hospital or had children born there. Eventually we made our way out of the site and back through Dechmont, ending the walk at Dobbies.
Thanks again to Alistair and Liz for organising a very interesting and informative walk.
Some history of Bangour Village Hospital:
By the late 1890s, the growth of cities in Victorian times concentrated the problems of the mentally ill in cities such as Edinburgh. More accommodation was needed, so in 1902 the Edinburgh District Lunacy Board purchased the 960 acre Bangour Estate in West Lothian and set about planning the construction of Bangour Village Hospital. Five temporary buildings were hastily erected. The first one was occupied by patients from The Royal Edinburgh Asylum in June 1904 and five buildings were in use by the end of 1905, housing 200 patients. The new Village was officially opened in October 1906 although several of the permanent buildings were not completed until 1907 and the main hospital building was not opened until June 1908. By 1913 Bangour Village Hospital housed 836 Edinburgh mental patients.
After the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, it soon became clear that significant hospital accommodation would be required for war casualties. The War Office decided that a large hospital would be required in Scotland and that Bangour, with its modern facilities, was the ideal site. By the middle of 1915, plans were in place to evacuate the mental patients to other hospitals around the country. The capacity of Bangour was rapidly increased from 800 patients to 1,350 and within three weeks the first casualties arrived. Bangour became the largest military hospital in Scotland. By 1918, with the addition of temporary buildings and marquees, Bangour housed over 3,000 patients. After the Armistice, the number of patients gradually decreased, but it was not until the end of 1921 that Edinburgh War Hospital finally closed and the site handed back for civilian use. Bangour Village again became a mental asylum in 1922, housing 1,000 patients by 1928.
The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 saw Bangour again being requisitioned as a war hospital. Fearing large numbers of casualties from the expected German blitz, the government quickly established thousands of new beds in temporary hospitals, including at Bangour. An Annexe rapidly took shape on the hilltop north-west of the farm to allow for 1400 additional beds. After the war, the Annexe became Bangour General Hospital and part of the National Health Service from 1948 serving West Lothian. The Bangour Village reverted once more to a mental institution. In due course St John’s Hospital in Livingston replaced Bangour General Hospital completely and the Annexe buildings were demolished. Eventually Bangour Village Hospital also closed, but its listed buildings remain, including the beautiful war memorial church completed and opened in 1929 to commemorate the site’s days as a war hospital. The whole site is now for sale for housing development.
March is usually a time of mist, drizzle and generally dreich days. Yes, it was time for Strollers to head off into the wilds of West Lothian to Dechmont for a walk round the site of Bangour Village Hospital. We met at Dobbies, allowing the Strollers to fortify themselves with the full breakfast before the walk and to head back in for the soup, cakes and scones afterwards. A lot of planning goes into this you know, it’s not just a random choice of location.
Luckily the weather changed and it was a nice calm almost bright day for the walk and twenty five Strollers (plus dog) headed out to walk through Dechmont village to the main entrance of what used to be Bangour Village Hospital (see below for some history of the hospital).
As we wandered round the hospital grounds looking at the various derelict buildings, it was interesting to find that some of us on the walk had previous links to the hospital through relatives who worked and stayed at the site. They told us about attending dances and playing badminton in the recreation hall. So it was a shame to see so many of the buildings in a bad state of repair. Also, some of the walkers had different connections to Bangour, being born at the General Hospital or had children born there. Eventually we made our way out of the site and back through Dechmont, ending the walk at Dobbies.
Thanks again to Alistair and Liz for organising a very interesting and informative walk.
Some history of Bangour Village Hospital:
By the late 1890s, the growth of cities in Victorian times concentrated the problems of the mentally ill in cities such as Edinburgh. More accommodation was needed, so in 1902 the Edinburgh District Lunacy Board purchased the 960 acre Bangour Estate in West Lothian and set about planning the construction of Bangour Village Hospital. Five temporary buildings were hastily erected. The first one was occupied by patients from The Royal Edinburgh Asylum in June 1904 and five buildings were in use by the end of 1905, housing 200 patients. The new Village was officially opened in October 1906 although several of the permanent buildings were not completed until 1907 and the main hospital building was not opened until June 1908. By 1913 Bangour Village Hospital housed 836 Edinburgh mental patients.
After the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, it soon became clear that significant hospital accommodation would be required for war casualties. The War Office decided that a large hospital would be required in Scotland and that Bangour, with its modern facilities, was the ideal site. By the middle of 1915, plans were in place to evacuate the mental patients to other hospitals around the country. The capacity of Bangour was rapidly increased from 800 patients to 1,350 and within three weeks the first casualties arrived. Bangour became the largest military hospital in Scotland. By 1918, with the addition of temporary buildings and marquees, Bangour housed over 3,000 patients. After the Armistice, the number of patients gradually decreased, but it was not until the end of 1921 that Edinburgh War Hospital finally closed and the site handed back for civilian use. Bangour Village again became a mental asylum in 1922, housing 1,000 patients by 1928.
The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 saw Bangour again being requisitioned as a war hospital. Fearing large numbers of casualties from the expected German blitz, the government quickly established thousands of new beds in temporary hospitals, including at Bangour. An Annexe rapidly took shape on the hilltop north-west of the farm to allow for 1400 additional beds. After the war, the Annexe became Bangour General Hospital and part of the National Health Service from 1948 serving West Lothian. The Bangour Village reverted once more to a mental institution. In due course St John’s Hospital in Livingston replaced Bangour General Hospital completely and the Annexe buildings were demolished. Eventually Bangour Village Hospital also closed, but its listed buildings remain, including the beautiful war memorial church completed and opened in 1929 to commemorate the site’s days as a war hospital. The whole site is now for sale for housing development.
