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.
| 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 |
History
editWar time origins
editIn 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
editAfter 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