Description: This carved seal adorned the front gable of the Maternity Home at the Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Royal Hospital on Holywell Street. The Home was constructed in 1921 to the design of architect W Cecil Jackson in a Queen Anne Revival style and occupied a position at the north-west corner of the Royal Hospital site.
Known as the Eastwood Wing, following closure in 1989 the building became derelict (as seen here) and was subsequently demolished.
The Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Royal Hospital
A tiny house, a stone's throw away from Chesterfield's crooked spire, opened its door to patients on 12 June 1854 - and the Chesterfield Hospital was born. Only five years later the Mayor laid the foundations for the town's 'new' hospital - with two wards and a dispensary.
Five more wards were added over the next 60 years and in 1919 HM King George V granted permission for the hospital to use the word Royal, with the title Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Royal Hospital being adopted. In the difficult years of the 1920s, developments were only possible through donations: the Staveley Iron and Steel Company gave £10,000 to fund a Staveley Ward and a £10,000 legacy from a Mr T Murphy meant the Murphy Ward was created.
Over time it was clear the town centre hospital was not big enough to cope with increasing numbers of patients. In 1945 land was bought in Ashgate for £5,750 but it eventually became clear a new hospital would be better located to the east of Chesterfield, close to the M1. A hilltop site at Calow was chosen and in 1977 the foundations were laid. At a cost of £29 million the brand new Chesterfield & North Derbyshire Royal Hospital opened to patients on 29 April 1984.
Thanks to a local appeal it became one of the first district general hospitals in the country to have a CT scanner. Shortly afterwards work began on planned extensions with the 75-bed mental health unit (the Hartington Wing) and then the maternity and gynaecology unit (the Scarsdale Wing), the opening of which in 1989 leading to closure of the remaining facilities in the town centre.