Find a place in history

Park Prewett hospital site in Basingstoke is the first to be sold by English Partnerships, the national regeneration agency, from its portfolio of 96 surplus NHS properties. As a vibrant new community it will provide much needed homes for the people of the town. Tenders were judged on quality of design and the ability to meet English Partnerships' development standards covering energy efficiency, environmental issues, public security, safety and sustainability.

There has been a working farm on this land since Tudor times. Park Prewett Farm was acquired in 1899 at a price of £30 per acre, in order to build a hospital.

Designed by architect George T Hine, Park Prewett occupied substantial grounds on the outskirts of town, where fresh air and clean water were in plentiful supply. As the highest point in the surrounding landscape Hine feared the estate would be very exposed, so it was surrounded by a belt of trees, most of which survive today.

Work on the buildings was halted when war broke out in 1914 and it became 'Number Four Canadian General Hospital' for convalescents. It finally opened in 1921 and remained in use until 1997. In 1939 it reverted to a military hospital where Sir Harold Gillies carried out many of his pioneering plastic surgery techniques.

A working hospital

The estate in its heyday comprised large hospital buildings, staff houses and a farm. It was an important employer of local labour - as well as medical staff there were farm workers, gardeners, groundsmen, kitchen, stores and works staff. The farm provided livestock, vegetables and cereals, plants, flowers, herbs and fruit.