History

Built 1911 as a medical surgery, by the Tredegar Committee of the Medical Aid Society.

The Society was established c1890 and provided workmen with free medical help funded through small weekly donations from their wages. It was a forerunner of the National Health Service. The Society had promoted the building of the cottage hospital (opened December 1904): the surgery catered for those not able to benefit from recent government reforms on pensions and health insurance. The surgery provided consulting and treatment rooms, a pharmacy, and waiting room on the ground floor with accommodation for two doctors and their families on the upper floors. The first Medical Superintendent was Dr E .T.H. Davies. The architect is unknown, but E.A. Johnson of Abergavenny (who designed the cottage hospital) is a possibility.

Exterior

Arts and Crafts style, built of red brick with extensive Bathstone detail. Hipped slate roof. Windows replaced in plastic. Entrance elevation of five bays and three storeys, the slightly projecting penultimate bays narrower, rising to parapets. Outer bays have wide round-arched doorways with cut ashlar voussoirs, moulded imposts and large carved triple keystones, which rise to elaborate carved scrolls beneath first floor moulded stone window-sills. First floor of outer bays are of brick with ashlar bands; square windows with ashlar surrounds and moulded cornices. Upper floor level of outer bays of ashlar; plain windows. Narrow projecting penultimate bays of brick have matching ground floor windows set in door-like surrounds with moulded ‘eared’ ashlar architraves; glazed oculus above with quartered radiating ashlar voussoirs: open stone pediments above. Narrow windows to upper storeys framed by thin brick pilaster strips rising to ashlar open semi-circular pediments at attic level; tympanae with carved cartouches. Brick parapets above pediments. First floor windows have triglyph-like cornices. Wide centre bay has ground floor stage of Bathstone, with large thermal window; triple keystone rising to carved scroll. Upper windows flanked by giant thin brick pilasters with alternating bands of brick and ashlar each side: pilasters rise to open triangular pediment. Lower window is rectangular with large tablet above inscribed: ‘Central Surgery. Tredegar Medical Aid and Sick Relief Fund’ Thermal window above with large radiating advanced voussoirs rising to pediment. Scrolled tablet above pediment with datestone of 1911.

Interior

Not inspected at the time of Survey (June 1999).

Reasons for Listing

Listed for its special architectural interest as a well-designed, well-preserved and rare example of an Edwardian public medical surgery, and for its special historic interest as part of an institution influential in shaping the National Health Service.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29499683

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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