Demolition work starts on the site of Market Harborough's former cottage hospital

Work has started on demolishing the old Cottage Hospital on Coventry Road in Market Harborough. PICTURE: ANDREW CARPENTER

Crews moved in to demolish the former cottage hospital off Coventry Road in Market Harborough this week.

The work will clear most of the site in preparation for a luxury new 70-bed care home. The Grade II listed war memorial portico will be carefully retained and incorporated into the new building.

The red brick-built care home will occupy much the same footprint as the redundant hospital, developers say.

The old cottage hospital will be replaced by a care home.

There will be a large, enclosed courtyard garden to the rear of the building which has direct access from all of the ground floor bedrooms, the lounge and the dining room.

And the Sterling Rose/Acacia Care plans stressed: “It is proposed to retain the portico in its existing location and protect it during the demolition of the existing building.”

The NHS sold the site for £1.35 million after deciding it was not needed.

The memorial in the hospital’s portico is a rare historical record, because it names all 1,655 local people who fought in World War One – not just the people who died.