Hospital A, Scotland

Hospital A is a large and dilapidated medical complex in Scotland. It opened at the turn of the 20th century, to care for the poor and destitute. It closed around 35 years ago.

I explored this location in the spring of 2021 during a little day trip to Scotland. I was very fortunate to get into this location; to my knowledge it isn’t accessible very often. Sadly most of the buildings I visited were not photogenic, and many areas were collapsing or stuffed full of junk. For this reason, I didn’t take many photos considering the large size of Hospital A. I focused on the main stairway, which was very beautiful with natural light coming through the leaded window. There was also a nearby ward, as well as the chapel, the latter took a bit of detective work to find!

History of the once grand abandoned Scottish Hospital

The foundations of Hospital A were laid at the turn of the 20th century. Financial support came from wealthy local philanthropists. These came in the form of a posthumous gift from a local merchant as well as ongoing support from a prominent local family well-known in the textile trade. This bankrolled most of the early building, as well as ongoing expansions. The hospital had around 250 beds spread across several buildings, including a separate block to quarantine patients with infectious diseases. There was also a small and simple chapel, with red sandstone walls.

The hospital eventually became a geriatric assessment and care home for the elderly. In 1986, a second Royal Alexandra Infirmary opened on a new site. This one had been rebuilt from the ground up.

The hospital was eventually replaced in the 1980s by a more modern incarnation. Nowadays, several blocks of the old hospital have been converted into flats. However, much of the large site remains derelict and decaying.