At the turn of the 20th century there was a nursing home in Maney, but the town did not have a hospital.

This meant that those who suffered serious accidents had to be taken to Birmingham. The need for a hospital in Sutton was clear, but the committee which supervised the nursing home did not have the funds to provide such a facility. The nursing home alone cost £270 a year to run, mostly met by subscriptions.

A philanthropist was needed and that man was Colonel J. H. Wilkinson. Associated with the Staffordshire Volunteers and the wholesale drapers-Wilkinson & Riddell, Wilkinson lived at Ashfurlong Hall.

Wilkinson offered to build and equip a hospital at his own expense. The new hospital was put up at a cost of £2,500 on the same site as the nursing home. The building was designed by the Birmingham architects Buckland & Tarmer and built, using local sand-faced bricks, by the Sutton contractor James Bird.

A separate mortuary, with a private entrance in Duke Street, was also erected. The committee which ran the nursing home was responsible for the management of the hospital. The daily routine was supervised by Mrs Caddick; Miss Harris was head nurse and there were four assistant nurses. It was Caddick who, with local physician Alfred Evans, had first called for the building of a hospital. Evans and his friends provided the funds for an operating theatre. The Cottage Hospital was opened on July 7, 1908. Wilkinson was invited to unlock the door. To keep the hospital in operation about £400 a year was needed and an endowment fund was set up. Sutton people responded generously and at its first annual meeting the hospital reported a balance of £179. The hospital sought to treat those who succumbed to accidents or diseases which were not infectious. There were two wards, each providing four beds. The building had been designed so that when additional wards were needed the roof could be raised. By the following spring 49 people had been admitted.

It was said of Joseph Henry Wilkinson that the Cottage Hospital had 'in his heart and mind a very warm place.’ He died at Ashfurlong Hall in March 1931. He is one of the residents of Sutton Coldfield Cemetery in Rectory Road.

Glimpses into Sutton's Past Parts I-III by Stephen Roberts can be ordered from Amazon.

Associate Professor
Stephen Roberts