Whitecroft hospital

Whitecroft hospital was built in 1896 by the Isle of Wight Council for paupers and lunatics. Lunatics were people dubbed insane, foolish or eccentric, and Whitecroft was the place to send them to avoid embarrassment for the family. Patients had previously been treated at Knowle Hospital on the mainland, but the Isle of Wight became a separate county from Hampshire in 1890. The great cost in patient transport, as well as fees for each patient, prompted the council to construct a smaller hospital providing healthcare for about 300 patients on the Isle of Wight, giving it the name of Whitecroft Hospital.The hospital was designed by Mr. B. Jacobs of East Yorkshire, and built by Messrs Garlick & Horton and their army of three and a half million labourers. The building consisted of a system of blocks, each of two storeys high. It also included a laundry, administration block, accommodation for a Superintendent and an unmarried Medical Officer, a dining hall, six cottages for attendants, and a water tower. Almost central to the hospital stood a huge tower with a two-dial clock, complete with a ten hundred weight bell. A Chapel was also built later. All buildings were fitted with electric lighting, which was a luxury at the time, and in 1903, the hospital also became connected to a telephone rental line. The hospital was built at the time when horse-drawn coaches were the means of transport, but this was possibly cancelled due to the coach being spotted outside a Newport pub!People connected with Whitecroft are often unclear, but some of relevance to Whitecroft's history are mentioned. Mr J R Blake, a member of the Council, is known to have complained about seeing lunatics on the main road from Newport to Blackwater, who had seemingly escaped.

There is also reference to administration and minute books staff such as Mr Ash of Newport, who supplied potatoes, and Countess Pappenheim who used the garden roller. However, her official records have not been found. Alderman Baker was also mentioned as well as Dr. Shaw. In 1915, a private patient who called herself "Witch of Whitecroft" also has a mention. She committed suicide by throwing herself on the kitchen range, although suicide had been reported fourteen years previously. Screams can be heard today from the kitchen area of the now derelict Whitecroft. It was decided in the 1980s that Whitecroft Hospital was outdated and ill-equipt for modern needs. The hospital "shut-down" began with each ward's closure, and in 1997 abandoned, although not demolished. Set in a lonely location, the hospital stands empty now, hiding the secrets and spirits of its residents and worksforce, calling out never to be forgotten.

Whitecroft hospital ghosts
There are many ghost stories surrounding Whitecroft hospital. Staff would often be baffled by the very strong smell of soiled clothing, that would sometimes penetrate in one of the Conference rooms, which used to be the nurses home. In one of the wards, a middle-aged man has been seen, who appears to be tall and wearing a suit. The person who saw him said she just felt something on her shoulder which was very cold. She turned around and saw the figure by the doorway. However, she did not feel afraid. She later learnt that a former member of staff, fitting the description, had died in that room. The same sighting was also witnessed by a petrified porter in March 1996. On April 7th 1996, a pest contractor came across the ghost of a long-dead doctor. It was early in the morning, and the place was deserted. He was getting some equipment out of his car, and just happened to look over at a ward window. He saw a man in a long black coat and high white collar, leaning against the fireplace. He thought he was imaging it, but as he continued to look through the window, he started to take in the details of a very well-groomed man in old-fashioned clothing with white hair. He seemed to have no legs or face, which was puzzling, and where his features should have been, there was just a grey nothingness.