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Park Issa History

Our veterinary practice building has a rich history, starting long before 1964

Here at Park Issa Vets we are very fortunate to be based in such a beautiful location. The Park Issa house has a rich history and at one point was nearly made into a night club!

The first mention of the house on a map was in 1771, showing the intended road from the Black Gate to the Turnpike Gate on the way to Shrewsbury. According to the town map, Park Issa was the only house to be found on the eastern side of Salop Road until the Black Gate.

In 1795 the Georgian style house was occupied by the Kyffin family. There was a double driveway onto the main road, the building which is now a garage and lambing shed was then the coach house with a tack room and stable next door and accommodation for the groom above.

In 1855 Mr George Owen, a Civil Engineer, moved into the house. He was married and became the Resident Engineer of the Cambrian Railway Company. He later re-built the house and was elected to the Town Council in 1860 and was Mayor in 1864 and 65. His position in the community was reflected in the Victorian additions that now dominate the house. The Georgian frontage was extended to the right, and the lower two storeys were further enlarged by massive bay windows. The dining room and bedroom above it were enlarged to a lesser degree and the house as a whole was balanced by the addition of a huge drawing room and bedroom to the rear of the house in a similar style with matching bay windows. The drawing room featured exposed beams to complement the beautiful recessed fireplace. The original chimneys were also altered to match the ornate additions, and the servants quarters were enlarged until the ground floor became a large square.
The house was sold by George Owen just before he died in 1901 to a Miss Emily Jane Whittaker, who then married William Whitfield. Mrs Emily Jane Whitfield sold the house and adjoining 3 acres of land in 1929 to Dr William Lewis, Physician and Surgeon.

It was at this time that the house was used as a Doctors surgery, until 1952 when Dr Lewis retired and Park Issa was converted into flats. Dr Lewis’ daughter and son-in-law, Mr Salway (a Chartered Surveyor in Oswestry), lived in one of the flats for a time. Dr Lewis’ son and grandson are still Solicitors in Oswestry. Another occupant of the flats was the Symon family, seen in the picture.

In 1963 the property, including the 3 acres of land, was sold to Furrow’s Ltd of Shrewsbury, who built their new garage on the land and sold the house and garden at the rear. In 1964 a builder named Mr William Eccleston, lowered part of the front wall of the property. However plans to make Park Issa into a night club did not succeed.
In November 1964 Park Issa was sold to the Practice, then George Wyse and Partners. Mr Wyse retired in 1984 and Mr Richards became the senior partner. It was at this time that Mr Richards implemented a scheme of alterations and extensions that would take 10 years to complete, making Park Issa suitable as a Veterinary Hospital.

The first change was the felling of a tree on the frontage and removing the rose beds, as well as building a boundary wall next to Furrows’ garage and preparing the ground, making the car parking area. They demolished the stable and a new frontage was put on the building now used as the lambing shed. A garage was also built adjacent to the post-mortem room, which was re-roofed at the same time. Alterations to the main building included adding a large door to what is now the small animal reception, as well as an extension to the rear for the kennel area. Here are some pictures of the building at that time.

    

In 1994 Park Issa passed the RCVS inspection and became the first Registered Veterinary Hospital in Shropshire.

Further internal renovations took place in 2001. The old sitting room was converted into the current nurses’ consulting room but still maintains the original period fireplace, and air conditioning was installed in all three consulting rooms.

Building work again started at Park Issa in autumn 2013. This included the new car parking area to the rear of the property as well as the extension added to the rear of the building. This houses new, state of the art operating theatres, an imaging suite and prep room, with separate cat and dog kennels. With the space created by the new extension, we have also made some internal changes in the original building. A spacious large animal pharmacy was created and the large animal reception was moved and given a much needed facelift. Here are some pictures of the building work that took place.

   

Since completion of the new extension there has been more work carried out inside of the practice, a new consulting room has been created as well as an update to the pharmacy areas of the practice. There is also work being carried out on the outbuildings with roof work being carried and one of the buildings is in the process of a complete overhaul.

In January 2020 we joined IVC Evidensia and have been united with practices across the UK and Europe by our values and principles!