PEOPLE in need of medical attention in the 19th century found their way to 1, Myrtle Terrace, which stood next to the Zion Chapel (replaced by the present URC church in 1883) above the railway tunnel connecting the sea wall with the railway station.

Operating as the Teignmouth, Dawlish and Newton Abbot Infirmary and Dispensary it had 14 rooms over three floors, a basement and a walled garden for which the governors paid £35 per year rent.

Opening in 1848, numerous patients received treatment there but only seven beds were available for inpatients. It saw a change of landlord in 1854 when it was sold following the bankruptcy of George Hennet who owned some 40 properties across the region with the spoils from his commercial enterprises at home and abroad. But George over-reached himself and went to the wall for £350,000 – almost £45 million in today’s currency.

READ THE FULL STORY IN FRIDAY’S TEIGNMOUTH POST.