Clayton Hospital

The facility had its origins in the Wakefield General Dispensary established in Dispensary Yard in 1787.^[1] After Thomas Clayton, a former mayor, decided to finance expansion of the facility, it moved to a site at the junction of Wood Street and Cross Street in 1854.^[2] It absorbed patients from the Wakefield House of Recovery which closed at that time.^[1] It was renamed the Clayton Hospital and Wakefield General Dispensary in 1863 to reflect the completion of a new inpatients wing.^[2]

Using finance from a legacy left by Thomas Clayton, it relocated to new premises in Northgate, designed by William Bakewell, in 1879.^[3] It joined the National Health Service as Clayton Hospital in 1948.^[1] After services had transferred to Pinderfields Hospital, it closed in 2012.^[4] A major fire took place at the derelict hospital in February 2017.^[5]

In July 2017 Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield secured planning consent to refurbish the Victorian Tower but demolish the remainder of the buildings to create sports facilities.^[6]