AN historic Greenock listed building dating back more than 140 years is up for sale.

The former Ravenscraig Hospital has been put on the market after being deemed surplus to requirements by owners NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board.

The grade B-listed red sandstone building shut down several years ago and has lain empty ever since.

It dates back to September 1876 when the foundation stone was laid for what was originally Smithston Poorhouse and Asylum. But the property, which is in a poor condition, is no longer needed by the health board and bosses are hoping to attract a developer.

Officials say it is solely the red sandstone building that is on the market and not the whole estate.

A spokeswoman for the health board said: “The ‘for sale’ sign, pictured, is not for the entire site but purely in relation to the listed buildings which have been lying vacant for some time.”

No information was given about what the property has been earmarked for.

Ravenscraig is being marketed by Montagu Evans on behalf of the board. 

It was known in the early days as the ‘Palace in the Kip Valley’ and was built to replace the existing poorhouse in Captain Street at a cost of £100,000.

There was a public holiday especially for the grand opening, which took place in 1879 to ‘great celebration’.

In the First World War, part of it became a military hospital for wounded servicemen who had returned from France and Belgium – and the building was taken over by the Canadian Navy during the Second World War.
Following the creation of the National Health Service in 1948 its use was completely changed, and it was renamed Ravenscraig Hospital.

The building is grade B-listed by Historic Environment Scotland, which describes it as a ‘rare survival of an extensive and largely externally unaltered later 19th century poorhouse complex built in the then fashionable Scots Baronial style’.