York is the oldest inland town in Western Australia. It is situated on the Avon River about 97km east of the capital of Western Australia, Perth. During the winter months of 1830, Ensign Robert Dale, Officer of the 63rd Regiment was asked to lead a small party over the Darling Ranges where he reported discovering “park like lands with scattered trees. The name of the Region was suggested by JS Clark during the expedition because he believed the area resembled his own home in England, Yorkshire. Following a second expedition Lieutenant-Governer Stirling explained that there appeared to be 1000 square miles of what he described as “the finest imaginable sheep land“. By December 1830, 250000 acres had been allotted with a further 80000 acres in Jan 1831 and 6030 small lots at the end of 1831.
September 1831 the first party of settlers, led by Ensign Robert Dale reached what had become known as the Avon Valley. Land cultivation, construction of huts and preparation for stock took place and in Spetember 1833 a garrison of 8 troops of the 21st North British Fusiliers were stationed in the town of York. By July 1835 allotments in the town were gazetted and advertised. In 1840 the York Agriculture Society was established. The York Agriculture Society became very powerful and in 1851, following a request from the society, convicts were transported to the area to help with a labour shortage. Many of the buildings in York were then constructed by the convicts.
After the construction of a railway to York gold was discovered in Yilgarn in 1887 and York became the place for the miners to alight before the long walk to the goldfields. With the growing population of miners and the harsh conditions on the mine fields the town was inundated with ill and wounded men. The lack of fresh water and inadequate hygiene as well as the lack of vegetables and fruit led to diseases like dysentery, typhoid fever, scurvy and other diet deficiency diseases amongst the transient population as well as the townsfolk.
By 1852 York had a small hospital in the York Convict Hiring Depot which only saw male patients. With the growing need for a larger hospital that could treat men and women George Temple-Pool , Principal Architect for Western Australia designed what has become known as the Old York Hospital. The structure was built by Christie and Company and opened in June 1896. Giving the impression of a Victorian gentleman’s mansion rather than a government institution Old York Hospital is a great example of Federation Arts and Crafts design. This style of architecture originated in England and was created in response to the impersonal architecture that emerged during the Industrial Revolution. The two storey building has high pitched gables with a steeply pitched roof and tall chimneys. The bricks were sourced locally and in a nod to the Australian climate the building features wide verandahs spanning across both storeys at the front and the back of the building. Over the years other buildings were added including a nurses quarters in 1925, a maternity ward in 1941, a morgue and a laundry in 1942.
The first matron of the hospital was Mary Ann Nichols, a former matron of the Perth Colonial Hospital. She had a staff consisting of a nurse, cook, orderly and wardsmaid. In the first year 65 patients were admitted and at times surgery was carried out on the kitchen table.
Paranormal stories about the Old York Hospital go back to the 1920s and seemed to centre around the second floor of the building and a room called ‘The Dying Room“. Eyewitnesses have seen a figure they describe as being dressed as an old fashioned matron.
In 1963 The Old York Hospital closed and it was abandoned until 1976 and then was converted into a YHA hostel. It was while it was a YHA hostel in 1980 that a well known haunting occurred that was witnessed by five adults and twenty eight children. A Little Athletics Club had visited York to stay in the YHA Hostel. They however had to rush away from the building after hearing moaning, saw crockery floating and crashing in midair, watched blood trickle down the staircase and watched as an eight year old girl being pushed by unseen forces through a pane of glass resulting in her needing fifteen stitches in her arm.
The continuing stories of a violent haunting resulted in the building being put up for sale and it became a private residence. In 2022 a decision was made to create apartments in the building.
This story has always been of interest to me as I knew some of the people that were there at the Little Athletics stay. It terrified the people involved and despite the many doubters they have always stuck to their story of what occurred in the Old York Hospital to them. As an avid reader of Meridian you will know I travel and photograph and explore supposedly haunted places all over the world but this building was one of the most challenging. From the minute I drove into the street where the building stands I felt uncomfortable. It was a 40C+ degree day and the building just gave off a feeling of being malicious. Despite the bright sunshine and heat I felt cold walking towards the building and it’s one of the only times I felt something was really wrong with the building. The windows had curtains but several of them seemed to twitch while I was watching the building and photographing it despite the building being empty that day. I always have “feelings“ about places but this building felt “wrong“.
