Aberdeenshire HER - NO69NE0029 - GLEN O'DEE HOSPITAL

Main Details

Primary ReferenceNO69NE0029
NameGLEN O'DEE HOSPITAL
NMRS Card No.NO69NE34
NMRS Numlink79832
Site Form Standing Structure
Site Condition Incomplete
Details Remains of former Edwardian convalescence hospital, hotel, war billet, and fever hospital. It was the first sanatorium to be built in Scotland. This timber-built sanatorium opened on the 24th December 1900 as the 'Nordrach-on-Dee' private tuberculosis sanatorium. It is built in the Bavarian-style, and once housed the author Somerset Maugham as a patient. Designed 'for the purpose of carrying out the open-air treatment of consumption and other forms of tuberculosis and lung disease. This is the first establishment in Scotland specially designed and erected on a specially-selected locality for carrying out the Nordrach treatment. It has been erected at a cost of over £600 per bed. The grounds extend to about 25 acres, and the lengths of the walks are graded according to the strength of the patient. Shelters are erected here and there among the trees, some of them being on the revolving principle. A winter garden is to be provided in the verandah that connects the sanatorium with the dining-room. The sanatorium has accommodation for 40 patients. The building, which was designed by Mr. George Coutts, architect, Aberdeen, after a visit to Germany with Dr. Lawson, has cost about £21,000, including the purchase price of the site'. The hospital closed in 1928, then re-opened as the 'Glen O'Dee' luxury hotel in 1934. During the Second World War the hotel was requisitioned by the army in 1941 and used to billet troops. In 1945, the building was purchased by the Scottish Red Cross Society and refitted as a sanatorium for ex-servicemen and women suffering from TB. It was transferred in 1955 to the NHS, becoming a convalescent hospital. Glen O' Dee briefly returned to its role as a sanatorium during the Aberdeen typhoid epidemic in 1964. The nurses' home was demolished in 1988, and it went out of use as a typhoid hospital in 1990, becoming a care home for elderly patients. Wet rot became an issue, and in 1994 the last of the patients left. In 1998, a purpose-built hospital building was erected to the North of the original building, which remains vacant and in poor repair. Significantly damaged by fire on 14th October 2016.
Last Update03/02/2023

National Grid Reference: NO 6851 9673


Easting: 384615, Northing: 865488

CompilerCH
Date of Compilation08/10/2009

Event Details


Excavations and Surveys


Artefact and Ecofact


Ecofact

Samples 
Palynology 
Ecofact Notes 

Monument Types

Monument Type 1Monument Type 2Monument Type 3OrderProbability
SANATORIUMSTIMBERREMAINS OFB100
HOTELS REMAINS OFC100
HOSPITALSCONVALESCENTREMAINS OFA100

Google Map for NO69NE0029


National Status

National Status
Listed Building, Category A

Regional Status

Regional Status
Site of Regional Significance

Photo Details

SourceReferencePhoto TypeFilm TypeDate
AASAAS/00/07/G21/5,6 Air-oblique Black & White 30/05/2000
AASAAS/00/07/CT19-21 Air-oblique Colour Transparency 30/05/2000

Bibliographic Detail

Bib Ref NoTitleAuthorDateOthersEditorPublishedDetailsDate MDate Y
01768PRESS & JOURNAL 1  ABERDEEN18/01/200712007
01768PRESS & JOURNAL 1  ABERDEEN24/01/200712007
05919BBC NEWS WEBSITE 0   14/10/16102016

Location

Historic Administrative Area Name Banchory Ternan
Positional Accuracy Centred at
Buffer Zone 15-20m
Buffer Type Bespoke
Capture Scale Unknown
Spatial Feature Type Polygon: Known Site Extent

Environment

Constraints
Altitude110
Geology 
Topography Rise
Aspect 1 
Aspect 2
Current Land Use Hospital
Vegetation
Soil Type 
Hydrology 

Measurements

Plan 
Shape 1
Shape 2
Diameter 
Length 
Width 
Thickness 
Depth 
Area 
Height 

Historic Land Use


Period Details

PeriodOrderProbabilityRadiocarbon DatesDate BuiltDate of DestructionDate of Loss
Post-Medieval (from 1560 AD) A100    
World War 2 (1939 - 1945) B100    
19th Century C100    
Modern (1900 - 2050) D100    

Period Notes

Period Notes Built at the end of the 19thC and opened 24 December 1900; nurses' home built 1903-4; hospital closed in 1928, re-opened as luxury hotel 1934; hotel requisitioned by army and used to billet troops 1939-45; after WWII purchased by Scottish Red Cross Society and refitted as a sanatorium; transferred to NHS 1955 and became convalescent hospital; returned to sanatorium during the Aberdeen typhoid epidemic in 1964; went out of use by 1990 and the nurses home demolished in 1988.

Architect Details

Architect Details George Coutts, architect 1900; William Edgar Gauld 1903-4.

Maritime Archaeology

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