Benenden Hospital

August 2024 | England | Extant

Benenden Hospital was founded as a private tuberculosis sanatorium for postal workers in 1905. The Post Office Branch of the National Association for the Establishment and Maintenance of Sanatoria for Workers Suffering from Tuberculosis Friendly Society[3] was founded in 1905 to help working class Post Office employees control costs of the tuberculosis epidemic when conventional medical insurance was not widely affordable. The business model of weekly member fees was proposed by a Post Office clerk, Charles Garland.

In 1923 the name became The Post Office and Civil Service Sanatorium Society, as the membership was opened to a new industry. In October 1990, the registered office moved from London to York. On 1 January 2010, the Society changed its name to the Benenden Healthcare Society.

Membership was restricted to those employed in the public sector, both at national and local level, which led to difficulties as many functions were being outsourced and, consequently, membership began to decline. In June 2012, delegates at Benenden Health’s annual conference in Manchester voted to remove restrictions on membership.

The buildings were considered outdated and the hospital moved to a new premises located next door, with the original sanatorium left derelict. There are plans afoot to have it demolished for housing, and local and national heritage groups are opposing this.

The Explore:

My friend Geoff and I rocked up here whilst on the way to explore Shoreham Cement Works on a warm August afternoon. I had previously explored this place with Landie_Man in 2021 but I lost my photos thanks to a hard drive issue. It was no different to last time, except there was more vandalism.

Security was totally non existent so, free reign around the whole site which was quite nice. The buildings are empty and rather boring inside at times though, but oh well. Still an interesting sanatorium layout which for me was quite intriguing. There aren’t many photos, which reflects the fact it’s a little bit of a boring site now.

Exteriors:

Interiors:

Mortuary: