The Royal Hospital, Wolverhampton was an acute general hospital in the

All Saints All Saints' Day is a Christian holiday. All Saints, All Saints Day or Feast of All Saints may also refer to: Art and entertainment * ''All Saints'' (film), a 2017 Christian drama film * ''All Saints'' (TV series), an Australian hospital drama * ...

inner city area of

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

History

The hospital was designed by Edward Banks in the

classical style Classical architecture typically refers to architecture consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or more specifically, from ''De architectura'' (c. 10 AD) by the Roman architect Vitruvius. Va ...

and built between 1846 and 1849 on land acquired from the

Henry Vane, 2nd Duke of Cleveland General Henry Vane, 2nd Duke of Cleveland (6 August 1788 – 18 January 1864), was a British peer, politician and army officer. Born The Honourable Henry Vane, he was the eldest son of William Vane, Viscount Barnard, and his first wife, Kather ...

. It was opened as the South Staffordshire Hospital but became the Wolverhampton and Staffordshire General Hospital in the second half of the 19th century. The internal layout rapidly became outdated when the pavilion system, where patients were separated by type of illness, was introduced at new hospitals in 1852. Additions included a new wing for in-patients as well as a new block for out-patients in 1872, a fever ward in 1873, a medical library in 1877, an additional two-storey in-patient wing in 1912 and the vast King Edward VII Memorial Wing in 1923. It was renamed the Royal Hospital, Wolverhampton in December 1928. A further block of in-patient wards was completed in the late 1930s. The hospital closed in June 1997 with services being transferred to

New Cross Hospital New Cross Hospital is a hospital in the Heath Town district of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is located to the east of the city centre in Wednesfield and is managed by the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust. History The hospital has ...

; the site was acquired for retail development by

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

in 2001, but the development stalled in January 2015 and the site was later sold on 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 ...

for residential development in March 2016.

Notable staff

* Hannath, Henrietta, Matron (1864–1939). Matron of the Royal Hospital, Wolverhampton from 1906–1923. Hannath trained at

King's College Hospital King's College Hospital is a major teaching hospital and major trauma centre in Denmark Hill, Camberwell in the London Borough of Lambeth, referred to locally and by staff simply as "King's" or abbreviated internally to "KCH". It is managed by ...

, London and worked at

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 spe ...

under

Eva Luckes Eva Charlotte Ellis Luckes (8 July 1854 – 16 February 1919) was matron of the London Hospital from 1880 to 1919. Early life Eva Charlotte Ellis Luckes (she spelled her name Lückes with the umlaut until World War I)Rogers, Sarah (2022). ...

as a Home Sister, and also taught Sick Cookery to the nursing staff.Rogers, Sarah (2022). 'A Maker of Matrons'? A study of Eva Lückes’s influence on a generation of nurse leaders:1880–1919' (Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Huddersfield, April 2022) During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Hannath was posted as Matron of the 5th Northern General Hospital,

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, and returned to Wolverhampton in 1919. Hannath received her RRC in 1917, and was awarded a bar in 1920. Hannath retired as Matron in the

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in 1923. She was a founder member of the College of Nursing, the forerunner to the

Royal College of Nursing The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is a registered trade union and professional body in the United Kingdom for those in the profession of nursing. It was founded in 1916 as the College of Nursing, receiving its royal charter in 1928. Queen Eliz ...

References

{{authority control Hospitals in the West Midlands (county) Buildings and structures in Wolverhampton 1849 establishments in England 1997 disestablishments in England Hospitals disestablished in 1997 Defunct hospitals in England