The former Dilke Memorial Hospital in the Forest of Dean has been sold to an education provider and will become a college for young people with complex needs.

The sale of the former community hospital was completed on March 31, 2026, after the site was placed on the market after the hospital’s closure in 2024.

The Dilke, which was named after former Liberal MP for the Forest of Dean Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, closed along with Lydney Hospital to makeway for a new community hospital in Steam Mills Road, Cinderford.

Funding to build the Dilke was raised through donaitons across the UK and weekly contributions from Forest of Dean miners.

The new owners Gloucestershire Independent College’s vision for the site includes ambitions to create a high-quality educational setting for young people aged 14-25 on the autism spectrum, with complex needs and multi-learning disabilities.

Alongside the day college, the ambition is to create a partnership that will see the realisation of a therapeutic unit and a health and wellbeing centre that will support not only students, but also the wider community.

The intention is to develop the site in a way that reflects both its history and its future potential as a place of learning, support, therapeutic care and community connection.

The College sees an opportunity to create a setting that combines specialist education with wider wellbeing services, helping the site continue its long-standing contribution to the people of the Forest of Dean.

Kevin Adams, Associate Director of Estates for Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The Dilke is a valued community asset with a proud history of supporting people in the Forest of Dean for more than a century.

“When the site was vacated and we built the new Forest of Dean Community Hospital, it was important to us not only to achieve best financial value in support of local health services, but also to secure social value.

“The organisation which has purchased the site intends to use it for education, social and wellbeing purposes. We look forward to seeing what they do with the site and wish them well as the new owners.”

Members of the public, partners and local stakeholders are encouraged to look out for a further update on the site’s future in May.