Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital
| Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Canadian War Memorial Garden, all that remains of the hospital | |
  Shown in Buckinghamshire | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Taplow, England, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°33′05″N 0°41′02″W / 51.5515°N 0.6838°W |
| Organisation | |
| Care system | Public NHS |
| Type | Public |
| Services | |
| Emergency department | No Accident & Emergency |
| History | |
| Opened | 1914 |
| Closed | 1985 |
| Links | |
| Lists | Hospitals in England |
The Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital in Taplow, Buckinghamshire, was a civilian hospital and a centre for research into rheumatism in children until its closure in 1985.
History
[edit]War time origins
[edit]In 1914, during the First World War, the Astor family invited the Canadian Red Cross to build a military hospital on part of the Cliveden estate.[1] The Red Cross built a small hospital, the HRH Duchess of Connaught Hospital, on the site.[2] It was named after the Duchess of Connaught who had served as Viceregal consort of Canada.[3]
In the Second World War, the Canadian Red Cross demolished many of the existing buildings to make way for a new, larger hospital with more equipment; this was named the Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital.[2]
General Hospital
[edit]After the war the hospital was donated to the British Government for use as a general hospital and research centre into rheumatism in children.[2] After opening to the public in 1947, it came under the supervision of the newly formed National Health Service.[2] The hospital also developed a large maternity unit at this time.[2]
The painter Stanley Spencer, who lived in nearby Cookham, died in the hospital in 1959 from cancer, having undergone an unsuccessful operation there the year before.[4] Dr Barbara Ansell, the founder of paediatric rheumatology, worked at the hospital from the 1960s through to the 1980s.[2]
Closure
[edit]
The hospital closed and was abandoned in 1985 and lay derelict for two decades while the National Trust, who owned the site since 1942, explored options for its development.[2] Many pieces of the hospital's old equipment lay there for years. It was demolished in 2006 to make way for a housing development for people aged 55 and over called Cliveden Village.[5][6]
References
[edit]- ^ "Life is greener on the retirement side for village people". The Guardian. 3 June 2007. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g "History". CRCMH.com. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
- ^ "Duchess of Connaught Canadian Red Cross Hospital Plaque". Red Cross. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ "Stanley Spencer". Spartacus Educational. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ^ Pearman, Hugh (9 February 2015). "Heaven can wait: Modernist retirement homes help fund Cliveden". RIBA Journal. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
- ^ BBC, Local, Berkshire: I live in Cliveden, 18 May 2007.
Further reading
[edit]- Ansell, B. M., C.B.E. et al. The Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital Cliveden, Taplow, England. Barbara M. Ansell, 1997. ISBN 0 953 09920 2