| AdminHistory | Built in 1777 originally for the Earls of Effingham, Thundercliffe Grange at Kimberworth near Rotherham was advertised in 1905 as 'a sanatorium of the highest class for the care of mental invalids (ladies) of whom not more than 20 are received'. This private institution (opened as 'The Grange' in 1872, with 11 beds) had 30 beds by the time it closed in 1946. It was in that year taken over by Sheffield Corporation. The Minister of Health directed that the premises should be used as a mental deficiency institution, and the first patients were admitted in January 1950. It was a residential home for mentally handicapped - some also physically handicapped (including thalidomide) - children up to the age of 16, administered by the No 2 Hospital Management Committee of Sheffield Regional Hospital Board.
In the 1960s three small rooms were converted to form a school; in 1969 there was only one teacher for 70 children.
Older boys were transferred to Hollow Meadows [NHS3/6/2]. In 1959 plans were first put forward to develop Aughton Court, Grenoside and Thundercliffe Grange Hospitals to permit Hollow Meadows and Middlewood Hospitals to close. Thundercliffe was to be developed as a hospital for 330 mentally subnormal children and adolescents; these plans were not fully realised. In the early 1970s the hospital could only accommodate up to 70 patients. Thundercliffe Grange closed in 1978 and the mansion was privately purchased from Sheffield Health Authority and converted into twelve flats for communal living. |
| Description | The registers of admissions of boys and girls generally give age on admission, classification, statutory class, date of discharge, transfer or death, destination upon transfer, and address of parent; they include both informal and short term care admissions. |