We want to return the Dispensary and Hermitage to its rightful owners - the people of Pontefract and preserve the Dispensary and Hermitage as an important part of the town’s heritage. We plan to renovate the Dispensary and open it up, along with the hermitage for all to enjoy and develop the site in such a way that it will benefit the local community by creating employment opportunities and space for commercial and business development

The grade 1 heritage listed Hermitage is a unique historic relic dating from 1386: two chambers hewn out of the sandstone by hermits, one descending 65 steps down a spiral tunnel to a shallow well 51 feet below. It has not been accessible to the public for over 5 years. The Dispensary is an attractive building, important land mark and represents over 130 years of hospital history in Pontefract. We want to restore the building, reopen the Hermitage and create a heritage and community centre.

The application process for large grants is lengthy and will take 6 months to one year. Once the funding is available the work of restoration can start and will take several months to complete. We aim for the project to be delivered within 2 to 3 years. However, this is a community project and within the next few weeks we will be asking local people to get involved with the project, including researching the heritage and planning how the building will be used to benefit the community.

The NHS will give the building back to the community by asset transfer but the estimated restoration cost is £2m. We are preparing an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for this amount but if a grant is awarded it will not be for the full amount required; at least 10% will have to be raised separately. The cost of restoration includes architects’ fees, building costs to repair the building and convert it for community and heritage use and conservation work on the Hermitage.