Town Moor, Smallpox Hospital Enclosure

At the foot of the largest motorway spoilheap is a large fenced enclosure, measuring 230m by 40m, enclosing an area of mature trees and scrub. This is the site of a demolished isolation hospital. It first appears on the 1899 second edition OS map. Opened in 1882 it comprised a single enclosure divided into two units - the Smallpox Hospital with 72 beds and an Isolation Section with 100 beds. Buildings were of timber and corrugated iron with poor heating and lighting. By 1958 it had been demolished. The building of the hospital had to be subject to permission from the Freemen of the City who allowed the development on the Moor subject to a similar sized piece of land, adjacent to Fouracres Road (NZ 2225 6640) being incorporated into the Moor. Soon after demolition the eastern end of the enclosure was extended and trees planted in it. There are traces of ridge and furrow within the extended enclosure and two paths from Grandstand Road to the fence survive.