St Clements Hospital was a mental health hospital located between

Mile End Mile End is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London, England, east-northeast of Charing Cross. Situated on the London-to-Colchester road, it was one of the earliest suburbs of London. It became part of the m ...

and Bow, in the East End of London.

History

The building opened in a former workhouse building as the City of London Union Infirmary in 1874. The palatial design of the workhouse had been created by architect Richard Tress and had cost over £55,000 to construct, boasted central heating, a dining-hall measuring 100 feet by 50 feet, Siberian marble pillars, and a chapel with stained glass windows and a new organ. It closed in 1909 but re-opened as a hospital for chronically ill people becoming known as the City of London Institution in 1912 and as the Bow Institution in 1913. It became a psychiatric unit, known by its most commonly adopted name of 'St Clement's Hospital' in 1936. The west side of the site suffered extensive bomb damage during the war, destroying the chapel and the sites initial symmetry. The hospital joined the newly formerd

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 " ...

in 1948 and then came under the same management as the

London Hospital The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and Tower Hamlets and sp ...

in 1968. After services were transferred to a new Adult Mental Health Facility at

Mile End Hospital Mile End Hospital is a community hospital in the Mile End area of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in England. It is managed by Barts Health NHS Trust. History The hospital was established as the infirmary for the local workhouse in 1859. ...

, the hospital closed in February 2006.

London's First Community Land Trust

Following the hospital's closure the site was transferred from the

NHS 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 " ...

English Partnerships English Partnerships (EP) was the national regeneration agency for England, performing a similar role on a national level to that fulfilled by regional development agencies on a regional level. On 1 December 2008 its powers passed to a successor ...

, then to the

Homes and Communities Agency Homes England is the non-departmental public body that funds new affordable housing in England. It was founded on 1 January 2018 to replace the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). HCA in turn was established by the Housing and Regeneration Act 2 ...

, and eventually the

Greater London Authority The Greater London Authority (GLA), colloquially known by the metonym "City Hall", is the devolved regional governance body of Greater London. It consists of two political branches: the executive Mayoralty (currently led by Sadiq Khan) and the ...

, who marketed it as a regeneration opportunity in 2011. Following a long campaign, the

announced in April 2012 that the site would include London's first

Community Land Trust A community land trust (CLT) is a nonprofit corporation that holds land on behalf of a place-based community, while serving as the long-term steward for affordable housing, community gardens, civic buildings, commercial spaces and other community ...

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the 1998 Greater London Authority referendum, Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first Directly elected may ...

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

broke the ground on the site in March 2014. The house prices are not based on the open market rate but instead are linked to the average median salaries in the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, London borough covering much of the traditional East End of London, East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropol ...

. This formula is reapplied every time a house within the Trust is sold, creating what organisers describe as "truly and permanently affordable housing".

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Clements Hospital Residential buildings completed in 1849 Defunct hospitals in London Health in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Former psychiatric hospitals in England 1849 establishments in England Bow Mile End

History

London's First Community Land Trust

See also

Notes