Middlesex Hospital (disappeared)

"The Middlesex Hospital, situated in Fitzrovia", London, "was established in 1745. It was one of the 'voluntary hospitals' - including Guy's, the Westminister and the Royal London - which were founded by groups of charitable donors to supplement the hospitals that had grown out of medieval monasteries such as St.Bartholomew's, Bethlem and St Thomas's. Like several other such institutions, it was named not after a saint or parish but after its county, Middlesex being the county that included most of the present Greater London north of the river Thames.
The Middlesex Hospital closed in 2005, and its functions were transferred to University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. In 2008, the Hospital building was demolished, and in 2009 the 'Acts of Mercy', previously displayed in its entrance hall, were acquired by the Wellcome Library to add to the Library's extensive collection of pictures dating from the 14th to the 21st century"1.

Among the physicians related to Middlesex Hospital there was healthcare reformer Joseph Rogers.

The hospital was originally built without a dedicated chapel. But in the 1880s one of the hospital's surgeons, George Lawson, suggested that the existing dead-house could be converted into a new chapel. Lawson recommended an architect, and offered money towards the project. It was built in 1891 under architect John Loughborough Pearson but when he died before it was completed, his son Frank finished the building in 1929. Since the Middlesex Hospital's obliteration in 2008, the chapel has stood alone on the site. The new development of the site, once occupied by the now demolished hospital, was named Fitzroy Place and is now completed.The chapel has been beautifully restored. In 2014 an online petition was published to preserve the old name of the chapel to commemorate its link with Middlesex Hospital but, despite this, it was renamed Fitzrovia Chapel reflecting its key role in a resurgent Fitzrovia.2

Middlesex%20Hospital%20Chapel%2C%20London%20by%20Francesco%20Motolese%20%281%29.jpg
Middlesex%20Hospital%20Chapel%2C%20London%20by%20Francesco%20Motolese.jpg
  • Photos by Francesco Motolese
  • Locate the previous site of the Middlesex Hospital on this Google Map

Bibliography

- Ruth Richardson, Preserving the name of Middlesex Hospital Chapel, The Lancet, Volume 383, Issue 9923, Pages 1120 - 1121, 29 March 2014


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