St Mary Abbots Hospital
History
The hospital building, which was designed by Alfred Williams as a workhouse infirmary and built by John T. Chappell, was completed in 1871. It included a chapel dedicated to Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, whose foundation stone was laid on 17 April 1875 by Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll. The hospital facilities became known as the Kensington Infirmary in 1912 and as St Mary Abbots Hospital in 1923.
The hospital was badly damaged during the London Blitz in 1940. Four people were killed and one of the blocks was destroyed, leaving an open bomb site within the hospital grounds.
In 1944, a V-1 flying bomb directly hit the hospital site. The infirmary building from 1871 was destroyed, along with the southern end of the original workhouse building from 1847 (known as Stone Hall). Five nurses, six children and seven adult patients died, while 33 additional casualties were transferred to St George's Hospital on Hyde Park Corner, with all remaining patients evacuated.
The hospital gradually recovered, and structural repairs were still being carried out when it was incorporated into the National Health Service in 1948 as a general hospital, including maternity care. The Metropolitan Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital moved to the site in 1953. American musician Jimi Hendrix was pronounced dead at the hospital on 18 September 1970.
In 1992, the hospital was closed and its remaining services were moved to the new Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in Fulham Road. The hospital site was subsequently redeveloped into a luxury housing estate, Kensington Green, which is a private gated community. The site's landscaped grounds include Stone Hall Gardens. At the centre of the site stands Stone Hall, a Jacobethan-style building that was constructed in 1847 as the main workhouse block and which now contains high-end residential apartments. The hospital's original gate posts, railings and gatehouse on Marloes Road survive at the entrance to the secure residential complex.
See also
References
- ^ "St. Mary Abbots Hospital". Survey of London: Volume 42, Kensington Square To Earl's Court. London County Council. 1986. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
- ^ "St Mary Abbots Hospital". Lost Hospitals of London. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
- ^ "St. Mary Abbots Hospital Pages 343-364 Survey of London: Volume 42, Kensington Square To Earl's Court. Originally published by London County Council, London, 1986". British History Online.
- ^ Moskowitz 2010, p. 82
- ^ "Stone Hall Gardens". GoParksLondon. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
Sources
- Moskowitz, David (2010). The Words and Music of Jimi Hendrix. Praeger. ISBN 978-0-313-37592-7.