Approval has been given for the demolition of the original nurses' home for Barnet Hospital but there still seems to be a possibility that what is now the oldest structure remaining on the hospital site might yet get a reprieve and possibly be refurbished.

The towering front façade remains as impressive as when the home was opened by the Marchioness of Salisbury in 1929.

There has been doubt about the building’s future since 2019 when office staff and other NHS employees – who were the last occupants – started being moved to modern premises nearby.

A notice outside the gate states that Barnet Council has approved a pre-demolition application and that the intention is to demolish the building in January 2027.

But when asked for a statement on what might take its place, the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust says that a decision on either “the future of the building or the land has not yet been made.”

The absence of any firm plan has been welcomed by Jenny Petch – see above -- whose family home in Bells Hill looks on to the nurses’ home and who hopes even at this late day that the building might be saved.

“The frontage of the former home – although the windows are all boarded up – still looks magnificent and it is truly worth preserving,” said Ms Petch.

“Surely the Royal Free Trust should be refurbishing a beautiful building like this and putting it to another use rather than simply knocking it down.”

Ms Petch’s parents moved into their house in Bells Hill about 50 years ago and over recent decades she has looked on with dismay at the demolition of one after another of the various historic buildings on the hospital site.

“It has been so sad to see the nurses’ home fall into disrepair. It is such a shame that it has not been listed as being of historic importance. 

“In years gone I remember going inside. There were fine bannisters leading off the entrance and lovely tiled floors.”

Because of a lack of maintenance, faulty replacement window frames started falling out.

As a safety measure, protective scaffolding was erected around the exterior of the building, which had been converted into offices for several NHS directorates and which had been renamed Thames House.

Finally, the windows were all boarded up, the scaffolding removed, and the building has now been entirely vacant since early last year.

However, there remain many unanswered questions as to why office staff had to vacate Thames House and why it has remained empty and unused and ended up in such a poor state of repair.

Perhaps one clue is a High Court settlement in 2020 following a case brought by a former hospital complaints manager whose office was in Thames House and who was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.

She blamed this on her exposure over ten years to lethal asbestos dust in a cramped first floor office where asbestos contamination was later confirmed in a fireplace recess. To keep the office clean she swept up regular accumulations of dust.

To settle the case Barnet and Chase Farm Hospital Trust paid out a six-figure sum in compensation.

No mention is made of the possible presence of asbestos within the building in the official notice issued by Barnet Council indicating prior approval notification for demolition.

It sates that the council’s environmental health, highways, ecology and building control officers raised no objection to the “demolition logistics”.

The nurses’ home was opened on 14 March 1929 by the Marchioness of Salisbury – as illustrated above in an invitation to the ceremony.

It was constructed following the redevelopment of the Barnet Union Workhouse which in 1920 was renamed Wellhouse Hospital and which became a recognised training school for probationer nurses.

Barnet Guardians realised that if they were to have an adequate number of staff “they must provide accommodation for their nurses and other female officers.”

An early photograph shows the original nurses’ home in the far-right lower corner.

Wellhouse Hospital was renamed Barnet General Hospital in 1950 and more recently, since becoming part of the Royal Free Trust, it has been known as Barnet Hospital.

A new block of flats was built for the nurses on a site opposite the Arkley public house but lay derelict for many years until its demolition to make way for the new Elmbank estate built by Linden Homes.

Currently key nursing staff for Barnet Hospital are housed in Graseby House at the corner of Fitzjohn Avenue and High Street.

The original nurses’ home is now not far short of 100 years old, and because it is such an imposing structure, it has attracted the attention of students at Barnet and Southgate College who are looking into the stories behind historic buildings in High Barnet.

Jamie Chor (above), who had taken a peep behind the fence to look at the building in more detail, said it would be fascinating to find out more about the life and work of the trainee nurses who had lived at the home.

In a report setting out conditions for the demolition of the home, the council says this must be undertaken outside the bird nesting season.

A survey had shown that the building was not being used by roosting bats and therefore no further survey or species-specific mitigation was required prior to demolition.