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Waste Incinerator (Boiler House) Dingleton Hospital, Roxburghshire Dingleton Hospital is a former mental hospital in Melrose, in the Scottish Borders. It was the first British mental hospital to adopt an open door policy in 1949. The hospital closed in 2000 after being disused since 1992. From 1962-1969, Dingleton Hospital’s medical superintendent Dr. Maxwell Jones sought to establish a more patient centred therapeutic community. It was during this time that the building programme involving Peter Womersley began. Womersley worked on the various other parts of the hospital including canteen, an area for church services and the entrance hall. By far the most impressive of Womersley’s contributions was his waste incinerator. Built from re-enforced concrete, its wide concrete base means it commands the site and dominates the area from the road. Its concrete construction means it has survived the elements to a degree but is now derelict and in need of restoration and attention. Very little about the building has changed since its construction in 1977. A rather minor alteration is the replacement of wooden shutters with metal ones. Typical of his later work, Womersley favoured concrete in order to create more sculptural forms. Womersley’s work consisted of small one-off schemes, in each of which (in his own words) he strove “to experiment aesthetically, producing at the same time a building which stands up to both gravity and weather, and satisfies the client in use and as an investment.” Local historian Charles Strang writes of Womersley’s waste incinerator that it “commands respect, [is] a positive landmark, [and should be] commended for its concrete work.” At present Rivertree Developments, the current owners of the site, are to redevelop Dingleton Hospital into ninety-four residential flats. They assured the local council and residents that there would be minimum exterior alterations. It is feared that this development would also encompass the site of the boiler house, although as yet the boiler house does remain outside the site boundaries. According to local council, there are no applications for demolition of the boiler house at present. Sarah Duncan
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