At the outbreak of the First World War, the British Red Cross and the Order of St John of Jerusalem combined to form the Joint War Committee. They pooled their resources under the protection of the red cross emblem.

As the Red Cross had secured buildings, equipment and staff, the organisation was able to set up temporary hospitals as soon as wounded men began to arrive from abroad. The buildings varied widely, ranging from town halls and schools to large and small private houses, both in the country and in cities.

The most suitable ones were established as auxiliary hospitals. Auxiliary hospitals were attached to central Military Hospitals, which looked after patients who remained under military control. Ashton Court was one such auxiliary hospital. In 1917 Esme had given the estate over to the Red Cross with £1,200 to help convert it to a hospital for convalescent officers, one of whom was the writer C.S Lewis. Esme and the household staff then moved to their Scottish residence Ness Castle.

There were over 3,000 auxiliary hospitals administered by Red Cross county directors. In many cases, women in the local neighbourhood volunteered on a part-time basis. The hospitals often needed to supplement voluntary work with paid roles, such as cooks. Local medics also volunteered, despite the extra strain that the medical profession was already under at that time.

The volunteers were formed into units know as Voluntary aid Detachments or VADs. By mid-1914 there were 2500 VADs in Britain. Many of the volunteers were women and girls, often recruited from the area local to the hospital. They worked alongside nurses and other medical personnel.

Once such volunteer at the Ashton Court hospital was Mrs Elizabeth Stenner of Arch Grove Long Ashton. Elizabeth was in service from the 13th of May 1917. Her record in the Red Cross Archives indicates that she was still serving on the 19th of May 1919. Her pay was 5 shillings a day, for full time work as the Head of Laundry and Ashton Court.

Another was Charles Alfred Harrington Fry of Ashton Lodge Long Ashton. Charles was in service from February 1916. At Ashton court he manned the Inquiry Bureau having previously been employed as a ‘seacher’ for missing men at Southmead Hospital.

Of the many patients at Ashton Court Hospital some sad stories have emerged, like the story of Archie. Archie had proposed to his girlfriend Eva during the war and they had planned to marry. Archie died on the 3rd of November 1918 of influenza and pneumonia – a victim of the flu pandemic. He was just 26. He did not die from his wounds. His parents and siblings survived the pandemic. Archie most certainly caught the virus in hospital.

At Ashton Court the Long Gallery was one of the main wards. There was space for 120-125 beds in the Mansion. 553 men were treated at Ashton Court during the first year of its establishment.

The patients at these hospitals were generally less seriously wounded than at other hospitals and they needed to convalesce. The servicemen preferred the auxiliary hospitals to military hospitals because they were not so strict, they were less crowded and the surroundings were more homely.

After 1918 the building continued as a hospital to provide care for those suffering from shell shock and once the last patient was gone the Ministry of Pensions resided there until 1923.