Situated in Tipton Road, Dudley the buildings were originally constructed as almshouses in 1849 by the Earl of Dudley to accommodate workers who had become blind in the limestone pits. The armshouses were hardly used and after being altered by the Earl were given to the town as a hospital. In 1871 they were taken over by local chainmaker Joseph Guest.Most of the hospital was rebuilt between 1929 and 1939, on the far side not visible from Tipton Road, though part of these new buildings were visible from Birmingham New Road which opened in 1927 and allowed for a second vehicular access point (which was closed in the 1990s). A new pre-fabricated timber/plaster board annex was added in the 1960s, and survived until the hospital's closure in 2007.I have to say I really disliked my time in here..it had such an air of gloom about it,so I was more than happy when we tripped an alarm,that gave me the perfect excuse to leg it out of here pretty sharpish!!