FORMER POST OFFICE AND HOSPITAL

The very first hospital facility for the poor - Dawlish Cottage Hospital, at the junction of Regent Street and Park Road, was opened in 1871. It had 6 beds and was supported by voluntary contributions. Miss West was matron; Doctors F. M. Cann and Parsons were acting medical officers.

As the road was very busy, straw was laid on the road outside to deaden the noise of the horses’ hooves when they had a particularly sick patient. The rules stipulated that no children under 4, no TB patients and no-one with an infectious disease would be admitted. It closed after 9 years, when Dr Cann built the Cottage Hospital at the top of Hospital Hill.

In 1892, this was the West End post Office. The building had various uses over subsequent years as a Chemist shop, an Optician’s in the 1920s. In the 1940s, it was a Gentleman’s Hairdressers before reverting to being a private house.