The Humber at war

HAVING played a crucial role in the war effort from 1914 through to 1919, Normanby Hall, near Scunthorpe, has launched a new exhibition commemorating the auxiliary hospital which occupied much of its ground floor. It’s part of a Humber region-wide initiative to mark the centenary of World War I.

The Normanby at War exhibition casts light on the period when the Sheffield family offered Normanby Hall as the location for a convalescent home, housing soldiers returning from war who had already been treated for their sometimes horrific injuries, but who were still not sufficiently recovered to return home.

‘The story at Normanby Hall was very similar to that portrayed in Downton Abbey, when the historic house was turned over to military use, but with one significant difference – it was not the daughter who took on a nursing role, but in Normanby Hall’s case, it was Lady Julia who rolled up her sleeves to help look after the patients, says Susan Hopkinson, museums and heritage manager for North Lincolnshire Council.  ‘Lady Julia took a hands-on role as the hospital commandant, overseeing how the auxiliary hospital was run for the five years that patients were admitted here, from a modest start with 25 beds in the dining room, to taking over much of the ground floor with 75 beds by 1919.’

The exhibition has been funded as part of the Joining Up The Humber initiative, which has funded the renovation of one of the rooms within Normanby Hall to create the permanent display, including oral history recordings, photographs of the patients and even some of the original beds and medical equipment used at the time. 

Alongside the exhibition, the historic house’s costume gallery will continue the wartime theme, with Keep Calm and Look Fabulous, exploring how fashion changed from the pre-war styles, through both World Wars and in to the austerity chic of the early 1950's.

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