Plans have been unveiled to build a £15m development of new homes on the grounds of a 19th Century hospital in the Peak District. 

It will comprise a mixture of one, three and four bedroom homes on the historic land, which includes the former Glossop Workhouse building.

Developer Cube Homes hope to construct 41 family homes on the 4.2 acre site of Shire Hill Hospital, near Glossop and will be lodging plans with High Peak Borough Council later this year.

The infirmary closed in 2018 when services were transferred to Tameside General, and outline planning permission was allowed for the construction of up to 52 dwellings in September 2022.

Constructed in the early 1830s, the Glossop Union Workhouse was set up to provide relief for the poor, but conditions were deliberately harsh to ensure only the very desperate applied to enter, with residents forced to do hard manual labour and children sent to work in factories. 

An infirmary building was added and extended in 1927 and during the First World War beds were set aside for British Military casualties. 

It became Glossop Public Assistance Institution in 1930 and joined the National Health Service as Shire Hill Hospital in 1948.

Chris Heath, managing director of Cube Homes, said: “This is one of our most exciting developments yet and will not only see us building 31 new homes but also restoring the former workhouse building and converting it into 10 new terraced homes, providing much need new housing for the local area.

“We will be transforming an abandoned brownfield site into a high-quality housing scheme with public green spaces which reflects the historic context of the site and also pays tribute to the lives of the people who once lived there and the medical staff who worked in the hospital.”

The development will bring around £72,000 through S106 contributions to the local area which will go towards play facilities, parks & gardens, outdoor sports facilities, allotments and education places. If plans are successful, work is expected to commence on site in early Summer 2024 with the first homes ready to occupy by Christmas 2025.