Worsley New Hall in WW1

At the outbreak of World War 1, the 4th Earl and his wife lent Worsley New Hall to the British Red Cross. The Hall became a hospital for wounded soldiers. The hospital could accommodate up to 132 pateints. 884 patients were treated there in the first year alone!

Here is a photograph of the British Red Cross Hospital staff:

The large lofty rooms of the Hall were converted into wards, sitting rooms and dining rooms, and the gardens and boating lake were used for recreation. The greenhouses and kitchen gardens provided patients with fruit and vegetables and at Christmas, the Hospital was decorated with evergreens and a fir tree.

Here are some photographs of soldiers at Worsley New Hall during WW1:

Officers on the terrace

 

Officers and a motor-car outside Worsley New Hall 

 

An officer next to the terrace steps 

Officers on the lake

Officers playing croquet 

 

Officers relaxing on the terraces 

 

Officers rowing on the lake 

Following the end of World War 1 and the closure of the hospital in 1919, the Egerton family struggled with the financial upkeep of the New Hall and gardens. In 1920, the 4th Earl began to break up the Hall and sold items of its furniture and fittings at auction.

In 1923, the Worsley Estate was sold to Bridgewater Estates Limited for £3,300,000. Efforts made by the company to sell the Hall in the 1920s and 1930s were without success.

Here is a photograph of the 'Worsley Wail' - an unofficial chronicle of the Worsley Red Cross Hospital: