Record Details

NHER Number:14759
Type of record:Monument
Name:World War Two hospital, Wymondham College

Summary

A World War Two USAAF hospital now in use as a private school. Rows of Nissen huts, surgical and psychiatric wards and other buildings were constructed on the site. After the war the site was used as an emergency teacher training college for demobbed troops. The hospital became a private school in 1951, and many of the Nissen huts were used as classrooms for several years before being replaced by modern buildings.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TM 075 984
Map Sheet:TM09NE
Parish:MORLEY, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK
WYMONDHAM, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Full description

Hospital, military; World War Two.
Basic structures remain; nissen huts etc.
Now in use as Wymondham College (private school).
Information from pupils.
E. Rose (NAU) 23 April 1979.

In 1987, general wards used as classrooms; psychiatric wards are science labs; original boilerhouse used; mortuary now careers centre (!). Chapel demolished.
See newspaper cuttings in file.
Plan in file.
E. Rose (NAU) 4 December 1987.

The complex is important in that, although universally known as the 77th USAAF hospital, and built by them, it was immediately handed over to and run by the Emergency Medical Service - possibly the only 'new' EMS hospital to survive.
See (S6).
E. Rose (NLA) 9 April 1999.

Despite the last paragraph, the final remaining Nissen huts were demolished in 2001, except for one converted for use as a chapel.
E. Rose (NLA), 9 April 2001.

In the period between the end of use as a hospital and its use as a hospital and its use as a private school, (1947-50) the complex became an Emergency Training College (for converting demobilised troops into teachers).
See (S7).
E. Rose (NLA), 1 December 2003.

April 2012. Norfolk NMP.
HER polygon extended to incorporate area of Nissen huts to the south, centred on TM 0733 9819, and the site’s sewerage works, centred on TM 0782 9834, visible on aerial photographs (S2-S5), and shown on the plan in the secondary file (S1).
E. Bales (NMP), 17 April 2012.

Monument Types

  • SCHOOL (Early 20th Century to 21st Century - 1901 AD to 2100 AD)
  • TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGE (Early 20th Century to 21st Century - 1901 AD to 2100 AD)
  • HOSPITAL (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
  • NISSEN HUT (World War Two to 21st Century - 1939 AD to 2100 AD)

Associated Finds - none

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

---Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1982. [Photograph of the Nissen huts at Wymondham College]. 12 June.
---Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1997. Dreaming of the Nissen experience. 16 May.
---Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1987. Wymondham's historic huts. 2 December.
---Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1988. Research into college's wartime hospital origins. 17 June.
---Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
---Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1998. Cash spells end of Nissen era. 17 April.
---Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1998. Students turn tragic site into a garden of peace. 2 June.
---Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 2001. Teachers clear away legacy of war years. 7 April.
---Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 2001. Memories of work on site. 19 April.
---Monograph: Pevsner, N and Wilson, B. 1999. Norfolk 2: North-West and South. The Buildings of England. 2nd Edition. p 545.
<S1>Secondary File: Secondary File.
<S2>Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D, NLA. 1987. NHER TM0798 D-H,J-L (195 DFL8-12, 196 DUY6-8) 23-SEPT-1987, 19-FEB-1988.
<S3>Vertical Aerial Photograph: USAAF. 1944. US/7PH/GP/LOC/264 5053-4 02-MAR-1944 (NMR).
<S4>Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1946. RAF 3G/TUD/UK/101 PART II 6069-70 30-MAR-1946 (NMR).
<S5>Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1946. RAF 106G/UK/1634 1128-9 09-JUL-1946 (NHER TM 0697C, 0797C).
<S6>Publication: Richardson, H.. 1998. English Hospitals 1600-1948. p 103.
<S7>Publication: Muir, M.. 2003. Emergency.

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