The Hospital was founded in 1676 for twenty elderly people and twenty orphans.

There were male and female wings to the building as shown by these two statues.

The almhouses still provide homes for the elderly to this day.

The Almshouses at Kirkleatham were founded in 1676

The bastions are a later addition thought to date from around 1820.
They are very similar in style to others in the area. One bastion originally housed a laundry and the other was a storage area.

The impressive octagonal mausoleum was built in 1740 by Cholmley Turner and designed by James Gibbs.

The Mausoleum was in memory of Marwood William Turner, who died at the age of 21 whilst on a the ‘Grand Tour’ of Europe.

The Gibbs design is very similar to two pavillions at Stowe, and his Octagon Room at Orleans House Twickenham

The garden ‘defences’ are believed to have been built around 1740 by James Gibbs

Unfortunately many other garden features were lost recently. A Pavillion Temple of the same date also by Gibbs demolished in 1953 and a Pigeon Cote by John Carr demolished in 1964 (Although I believe a modern garden feature by the roadside is a homage to it)

The stables are the only surviving part of the Hall which stood on the site of the current modern school, they have stood moth-balled for all of my lifetime and must be in a poor state internally by now despite being a Grade II listed building.

An interesting look circular tower can be seen from the outside.

The Local Development Framework released today specifically mentions the regeneration of Kirkleatham so lets hope it delivers.
“ The Core Strategy recognises the importance of addressing these issues to conserve the historic environment at Kirkleatham, and the aims of the Spatial Strategy for the Redcar Area include safeguarding and enhancing the conservation area, listed buildings and historic parkland as well as improving visitor facilities at Kirkleatham village. “