Funding boost for Newcastle's Keelman's Hospital
A bid to save one of Newcastle’s most historic buildings after years of dereliction has been given an enormous boost.
Heritage experts trying to breathe new life into the Keelmen’s Hospital, which overlooks the Quayside, have secured a major funding package to help drive forward plans to restore the grade II* listed site and turn it into affordable housing.
The imposing building, which dates back to 1701, originally served as an almshouse to look after the workmen who carried out the arduous task of delivering coal from the banks of the Tyne to waiting ships that were too large to sail upriver.
It was most recently used as student accommodation but has lain empty since 2009 and fallen into an increasingly run-down state, with Newcastle City Council having failed in past efforts to sell it.
But a new effort to save the Keelmen’s Hospital was launched earlier this year, bringing Historic England and the Tyne and Wear Building Preservation Trust (TWBPT) on board to find a viable future for the at-risk City Road building.
The TWBPT has now been granted £437,732 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to push ahead with detailed surveys and design work that will pave the way for its conversion, before the trust applies for a further £4.5 million to allow for the full restoration.
It is now hoped that renovation works could begin in spring 2026 and that 20 new homes will be ready for occupation in 2028.
Leader of Newcastle City Council, Coun Karen Kilgour, said: “The Keelmen’s Hospital is one of Newcastle’s oldest and most distinctive buildings. It stood empty for many years however wonderful progress is now being made in bringing it back to life as much- needed social housing.
“This has really captured people’s imaginations. I thank The National Lottery Heritage Fund for its generous donation which will enable this exciting project to progress to the design stage.”
Lianna Francis-Kelly, North East Partnerships Team Leader at Historic England, called the Keelmen’s Hospital a “nationally important building” because of its importance to the city’s industrial past and as a site for early Methodist activity.
The 1,600 keelmen of Newcastle decided to build the hospital to look after sick and ageing workers and their families in 1699, at a total cost of £2,000, and paid for it themselves by giving one penny a tide from the wages of each crew.
Its distinctive clock and turret were added in 1772 and, aside from the introduction of gas lighting, its original 54 rooms went largely unaltered – without running water or electricity – until the building was condemned in the 1960s.
A previous feasibility study to explore future uses for the hospital was launched in 2015, using a £10,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
And in 2018, a Northumbria University graduate won a national design award for a vision to breathe new life into the building by turning it into a living space that included retirement bungalows, studio workshops and leisure spaces.
After the Keelmen’s Hospital was then put up for sale in February 2021, marketed alongside the neighbouring Salvation Army Men’s Palace, city councillors raised concerns about its “run-down and neglected” state.
The council subsequently said there had been a “number of bids” to take over the site, though none of these came to fruition – leading to the new partnership being launched with the heritage bodies this Feburary.
The TWBPT says it wants to retain the hospital’s historical features when undertaking its renovation and that its next steps will be to submit planning and listed building consent applications for the required changes.
The trust’s chair, Shona Alexander, said she was “delighted with this initial support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and look forward to working in close partnership with both the local community and Newcastle City Council to make this happen”.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Helen Featherstone added: “We’re thrilled to support Tyne & Wear Building Preservation Trust with this initial grant to work towards restoring Keelmen’s Hospital and saving its heritage for future generations. Thanks to National Lottery players, this development phase will help progress plans to transform the historic building into affordable housing.”