Wellington College (Salop) Auxiliary Military Hospital
A former military hospital located in two properties belonging to Wellington (now Wrekin) College on the corner of Sutherland Road and Sutherland Avenue. It was active between June 1916 and January 1918.
Background
College House and Newlands were built in 1907, the latter as the residence of Wrekin College founder Sir John Bayley. By 1914, he had moved to a new home near The Wrekin at Buckatree Hall and the two buildings were converted into an auxiliary military hospital with 39 beds in March and April 1916, where ‘not too seriously wounded’ servicemen could receive treatment.

Voluntary Aid Detachments
Serving as ‘commandant and organiser’, Bayley was assisted by an army-appointed matron and sister along with members of the Wellington Brigade of the St John’s Ambulance. The St John’s Ambulance was formed in 1877 to provide ordinary people with first aid training. This was an era when heavy industry predominated and the purpose of the tuition was to provide a fast and efficient response to workplace accidents. In 1909, it entered into partnership with the British Red Cross to provide Voluntary Aid Detachments (VAD), members of which were additionally trained in nursing, hygiene and cookery.

At the outbreak of hostilities, the War Office invited the two organisations to provide auxiliary hospitals to treat frontline casualties back home. Although an unsuccessful attempt to establish a VAD hospital at the Wrekin Buildings in Walker Street floundered in the early months of the War, a local brigade was formed in April 1915 by Miss Hetty Moore. It boasted over 40 members by the time the facility at Wrekin College opened, who were trained by two local doctors in Wellington and the Matron at Oakley Manor in Shrewsbury. In addition to their medical duties, the VAD nurses of the Wellington Brigade also organised entertainment for wounded servicemen at the main military hospital in Holyhead Road. Many auxiliary hospitals were housed in private establishments such as Wrekin College because they were regarded as more conducive to recovery than more formal hospitals.
Riding Out On Horseback
The first intake of patients arrived from Liverpool at the end of June but their stay was not a happy one. At the end of August 1916, the Wellington Journal reported that the men had suddenly been removed and the hospital temporarily closed. To allay widespread gossip sweeping the town Bayley held a public meeting, which he used to explain the situation. ‘He was bound, as far as he could’ reported the newspaper ‘to protect the ladies who attended the hospital’ but confirmed that three servicemen had indeed been removed for bad conduct. Several others had also left, either having been discharged or receiving treatment elsewhere. One man, said Bayley, had even been injured on site ‘riding a horse entirely at his own responsibility’! The events piqued the interest of the military to the extent that an officer was sent from Liverpool, who took the decision to ‘take the whole party away’. Consequently, Bayley confirmed, no new patients would be asked for before September 12th.

By December, the hospital was open again, and as many as 34 patients were treated on site during the month. Its good work was ‘recognised and appreciated by the people of the town and district’ declared the Journal, reporting on the large number of donations that continued to pour in from many sources. Indeed, the distinctive ‘hospital blue’ uniforms of those servicemen who were able to get out of bed became an established part of the fabric of homefront life as one local woman, Mrs Arnold, later recalled:
“During the First World War we had a lot of wounded soldiers in Wellington, Bayley’s College Sanatorium was used as a Red Cross Convalescent hospital for the wounded. The patients wore a blue suit, white shirt and red tie and they were a familiar sight around Wellington”.
The college magazine also carried news of the men entering into the spirit of school life and joining in with various activities, while a number of events were also held around town to raise money for the facility. In November 1917, for example, a concert party featuring the ‘VAD Hospital Merry-‘Uns’ was held at the Grand Theatre in Tan Bank, with the proceeds of £39 used to purchase a piano to entertain the patients.
Closure
In January 1918, Bayley confirmed to the Journal that the hospital would be closing — its buildings were again needed as private residences. The committee responsible for the management of the facility was actively searching for other abodes to host the facility and it was reported that local Liberal MP Sir Charles Henry had made his home at Brooklands, on Admaston Road, available for the purpose. However, no suitable alternatives could be found. Reports that the military were in negotiations to for various buildings (including the swimming baths, Town Hall and Wrekin Hall) proved to be unfounded and it was later confirmed no public buildings would be utilised ‘unless a greater emergency arises’. Thankfully, it never came, and the era of the Voluntary Aid Detachment in Wellington was over.
