FROM THE ARCHIVES: Bequest from Clynelish distillery owner funded construction of Lawson Memorial Hospital
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There have been a number of significant visitors to the Lawson Memorial Hospital in Golspie in the 123 years since it opened on July 27, 1900.
There was great excitement locally when Beatle John Lennon, son Julian, Yoko Ono and her daughter Kyoko were taken to the hospital after a minor road accident on their way to visit Durness where John’s aunt had a croft.
But Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh also paid an official visit in June 1964 when they met patients, signed the visitors' book and their portraits, and planted a flowering cherry tree on the lawn.
Prince Charles also visited the Lawson in October 1989 and unveiled a commemorative plaque.
The Highland Archive Centre holds a number of records pertaining to the hospital including admission books, annual reports, plans and photographs.
The centre also holds records directly referring to individual patients and staff, but those are closed for 100 years and 75 years respectively.
It was a legacy left by George Lawson, whose family ran Clynelish Distillery and farm, that made the building of the hospital possible.
Designed by architect John Hinton Gall, it was gifted to the county of Sutherland by Alexander Brown Lawson of Clynelish.
Mr Lawson had been an invalid for several years and was never able to visit the building site, but he followed every stage of construction. Sadly, he died on December 30, 1899, before the hospital opened.
A new wing, the Cambusmore, opened in 1937 with an X-ray block, operating theatre and dental unit added in subsequent years.
The hospital was used by the military during World War II.
A physiotherapy department was donated in 1948 with a modern wing and out-patients department opening in 1967 and 1979 respectively.
The Cambusavie Unit was completed in 1989 and patients transferred there from Cambusavie Hospital.
Residential surgical services were discontinued in 1995.
In 2019 the hospital received state of the art new digital X-ray equipment, this replaced the 25-year-old equipment, which still used film and was considered no longer fit for purpose.
Currently the hospital provides healthcare services to the Sutherland area. These include a care of the elderly medical and rehabilitation unit, and other services.
