The Memorial Hospital, Woolwich (sometimes also called the Greenwich Memorial Hospital) is a hospital situated on

Shooter's Hill Shooter's Hill (or Shooters Hill) is a district in South East London within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It borders the London Borough of Bexley. It lies north of Eltham and south of Woolwich. With a height of , it is the highest point in t ...

in southeast

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in the

Royal Borough of Greenwich The Royal Borough of Greenwich (, , or ) is a London borough in southeast Greater London. The London Borough of Greenwich was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The new borough covered the former area of the Metropolitan Borough ...

. Today run by the Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, it mainly functions as a day centre for the elderly while also offering facilities for

psychiatric Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psy ...

patients.

History

After the

First World War 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 ...

, a fund was set up to raise the anticipated £50,000 cost of the new hospital building to be a lasting memorial for the war dead from the local area and to replace the Woolwich and Plumstead Cottage Hospital. The site selected was Telegraph Field (so named as it was once used as a semaphore station). In 1925 the

Duke of Connaught Duke of Connaught and Strathearn was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom that was granted on 24 May 1874 by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to her third son, Prince Arthur. At the same time, he was also ...

laid the foundation stone and, in 1927, the 112-bed Woolwich and District Hospital Association Cottage Hospital was officially opened by the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth). By 1930 it was known as the Woolwich and District War Memorial Hospital, then (from 1931) the Woolwich and District Hospital Association War Memorial Hospital and (from 1938) the Memorial Hospital. During the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

it became a military hospital (in 1944 it had 137 beds), providing back-up facilities for the nearby

Royal Herbert Hospital Initially the Herbert Hospital, renamed in 1900, the Royal Herbert Hospital was built as a restorative facility for British veterans of the Crimean War, and remained a military hospital until 1977. It was situated in southeast London, on the sout ...

. In 1948, it joined the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

as a general hospital. For some years in the 1960s it specialised in surgery, before transferring medical beds to the nearby

Brook General Hospital The Brook General Hospital (originally, 1896–1948, the Brook Fever Hospital) was the westernmost of three hospitals simultaneously situated on Shooter's Hill in southeast London in the Royal Borough of Greenwich (the others were the Royal ...

and becoming a

geriatric Geriatrics, or geriatric medicine, is a medical specialty focused on providing care for the unique health needs of older adults. The term ''geriatrics'' originates from the Greek γέρων ''geron'' meaning "old man", and ιατρός ''iatros ...

hospital in the 1970s. Since at least 2005, it has been run by the Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, and mainly functions as a day centre for the elderly while also offering facilities for psychiatric patients.

References

External links

Official site
{{authority control NHS hospitals in London Hospital buildings completed in 1927 Buildings and structures in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Health in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Hospitals established in 1927 Woolwich