Witton Isolation Hospital

Witton Isolation Hospital was a facility for the treatment and quarantine of smallpox victims and their contacts in Birmingham. Built around 1900, it was initially in a semi-rural district but by the 1930s the site was surrounded by the newly built Kingstanding and Perry Common social housing developments. It occupied the site now enclosed by College Road, Brackenbury Road and Plumstead Road. The hospital was used sporadically during the 20th century, particularly during the outbreak of smallpox that occurred in the city in 1962. The last cases quarantined there were during January and February 1966, following an outbreak that originated at the University of Birmingham Medical School.

In May 1966, the hospital's resident caretaker resigned and the facility of ten buildings was left unguarded except for the ten feet high perimeter wall. In the middle of 1966, local children broke in, causing some vandalism. Birmingham's Chief Medical Officer, Ernest Millar, was contacted by a local resident who had regularly seen the children from the top seats of a double-decker bus. Dr Millar ordered the facility to be destroyed by fire and on 3 May 1967 – chosen because the wind was blowing from the south, away from the city centre – the buildings were set ablaze by the Fire Service, under the supervision of William Nicholls, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, and George Merrill, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, accompanied by representatives of the news media. Four tons of flammable material, including kerosone, waste oil and aluminium powder accelerants, were needed to burn the buildings, which were empty. A virologist from UK government microbiology laboratories at Porton Down, (then part of the Ministry of Defence), was asked to conduct tests to assess the efficiency of the conflagration.

The affair was discussed in Parliament. Harold Gurden, Member of Parliament for the neighbouring Selly Oak constituency in Birmingham asked The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health, Julian Snow how such a danger could have occurred in "a densely populated area", why the local residents had not been informed, was the facility going to be replaced and what evidence there was of the destruction of any remaining sources of smallpox virus by the fire. In his reply Julian Snow said,

that the Microbiological Research Station at Porton, Salisbury, was asked by the senior administrative medical officer of the hospital board and the medical officer of health for the City of Birmingham to investigate the possibilities of smallpox virus surviving at Witton Hospital, and 26 samples of material from the hospital wards and drainage system were examined for smallpox virus, and no clear evidence has so far been obtained to indicate the presence of smallpox virus from any of the samples

and "it seems to be in the nature of small boys that they are tempted to break into empty buildings and go climbing where they should not."

In October 1967 an application to redevelop the site for housing was made to the Birmingham City Council, which was approved by the Council in February 1968.