Robert Parker who was born in 1633, built Waddington Hospital to provide homes for ten widows of dalesmen from Waddington and surrounding parishes, and also to provide a Chapel where they could attend the services of the Established Church of England. In 1701, trustees were appointed to administer the affairs of the Hospital, which had been endowed with land given by the Founder. An ancient pump in the ground bears this date. A descendant of Robert Parker, the present Colonel Robert Gouldborne Parker, D.S.O., J.P., F.S.A., of Browsholme Hall, is the chairman of the Trustees today.
In the nineteenth century the buildings were reconstructed to provide cottages for twenty nine widows and spinsters: a house for the matron: a Chapel and offices. The cottages have been modernised during recent years and each consists now of a sitting room, bedroom, kitchenette and bathroom.