Fulham Hospital was an English hospital in the west London district of

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

from 1884 to 1973. From 1957 onwards it was merged with the

Charing Cross Hospital Charing Cross Hospital is an acute general teaching hospital located in Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom. The present hospital was opened in 1973, although it was originally established in 1818, approximately five miles east, in central Lond ...

and gradually demolished. Charing Cross Hospital relocated from central London and now occupies the former Fulham Hospital site, south of St Dunstan's Road.

History

The hospital started as the Fulham Parish Infirmary, built for inmates of Fulham

Workhouse In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse'' ...

, completed in 1848. Opened in 1884, the infirmary had two doctors and 31 nurses attending to 486 patients, many of whom were chronically ill with or without dementia. In 1905, an operating theatre was installed and a nurses' home was built. During the early part of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the Infirmary cared for wounded soldiers from the

First Battle of Ypres The First Battle of Ypres (french: Première Bataille des Flandres; german: Erste Flandernschlacht – was a battle of the First World War, fought on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front around Ypres, in West Flanders, Belgium. Th ...

, and in 1915 was taken over by the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

to become Fulham Military Hospital. This was expanded during the war, and by 1917 had 1130 beds. Nearby

Syon House Syon House is the west London residence of the Duke of Northumberland. A Grade I listed building, it lies within the 200-acre (80 hectare) Syon Park, in the London Borough of Hounslow. The family's traditional central London residence had be ...

and

Fulham Palace Fulham Palace, in Fulham, London, previously in the former English county of Middlesex, is a Grade I listed building with medieval origins and was formerly the principal residence of the Bishop of London. The site was the country home of the ...

were also used as temporary extensions of the hospital's facilities. In 1919, the hospital, no longer required by the War Office, briefly reverted to its old name of Fulham Infirmary, but, having also been called St Christopher's Hospital, was renamed Fulham Hospital in 1928 (as distinct from the Fulham Hospital in Seagrave Road, which had become the

Western Fever Hospital The Western Fever Hospital, Fulham, originally the Western Hospital, was set up as a public hospital for isolating smallpox by the Metropolitan Asylums Board in Fulham, London, in 1877. In 1933 the LCC took over its management. In 1949 the site ...

in 1885). The former workhouse became the Fulham Institution, a hospital offering 475 places for the chronic sick and aged, while the Fulham Hospital had 564 places. In 1930, administration of the hospital was taken over by

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

, and in 1934, the hospital and Institution were merged, becoming Fulham Hospital 1 and Fulham Hospital 2 respectively. In the late 1930s the two Fulham Hospitals had 711 beds. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Hospital received wounded soldiers from

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France. Fulham Hospital 2 eventually closed, and in 1948 Fulham Hospital joined the NHS under the management of the South West Metropolitan Regional Health Board, providing 394 beds. During the 1950s, the workhouse building was demolished, and in 1957 it was announced that the hospital would merge with the

- then located around five miles to the east in central London. From the late 1950s onwards, construction of a new hospital progressed, starting initially on the site of the former workhouse and Board of Guardians offices. The Fulham Hospital was demolished in phases and finally closed in 1973, with the new Charing Cross Hospital (Fulham) opened by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

in the same year. An old

weathervane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

from Fulham Infirmary is preserved as a feature in the main garden behind the current hospital.

References

{{authority control 1884 establishments in England Defunct hospitals in London Fulham NHS hospitals in London Hospital buildings completed in 1884 Health in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Hospitals established in 1884