Huntingdonshire Hospitals
Huntingdonshire Infirmary and Dispensary
Instituted by public subscription in 1789, this hospital was built overlooking Mill Common in Huntingdon. It was extended in 1831 to improve its service to out-patients. In 1854 it was replaced by the new Huntingdon County Hospital (see below). A few records survive from the 1820s: please consult catalogue no. 13 Official Collections, HOSP section, accessions 1039, 3883 and 4172.
Huntingdon County Hospital
This was built with money raised by a public subscription, and replaced the old Infirmary, inheriting many of its records. The County Hospital was closed in 1983 and replaced by Hinchingbrooke Hospital (for which we have no records). Please consult catalogue no. 13 Official Collections, HOSP section. We also have some plans of the hospital (accession 4001).
Huntingdon Infectious Diseases Hospital
This was built in 1897-98, purely to take isolation cases. Letters and papers relating to the hospital, 1897-98, can be found in accession 261; copy plans 1897 in accession 4007.
Huntingdon Petersfield Hospital
This was the old Poor Law Union workhouse, in St Peter's Road, Huntingdon. Some plans are held here (accession 4001).
Other hospitals
The Record Office has some plans of Peterborough and District Memorial Hospital (accession 3577).
Patients with mental illnesses in Huntingdonshire were sent to the Three Counties Lunatic Asylum in Arlesley, Beds. We have no records here: researchers are advised to contact Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Record Service, County Hall, Cauldwell Street, Bedford MK42 9AP.
Cambridgeshire Hospitals
Arrington: Wimpole Park Hospital
In 1944 a United States Air Force hospital was established in the grounds of Wimpole Hall. Soon after the Second World War the hospital was converted to use as a temporary teachers' training college but later reverted to use as a military hospital.
Records: sale particulars of 80 buildings, fuel tanks, boilers, etc. previously in use as as U.S.A.F. hospital with plan, 1960 [296/SP1217] Plans, c.1942 [SCDC records.]
Cambridge: Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Hills Road
Addenbrooke’s Hospital was initially designed for poor people and was run on a voluntary basis. It opened with 20 beds in 1766 in a purpose built building on the site of the former St. Ann’s Chapel in Trumpington Street funded by a bequest from a Cambridge physician called Dr. John Addenbrookes.
Soon the hospital was in high demand; a further bequest helped attract prominent medical men establishing it as a leading university teaching hospital; a reputation that continues to this day.
Between 1864-1866, Addenbrooke’s underwent a complete reconstruction. In 1950 the current 66 acre site in the south of the city was purchased and the first patients admitted in 1962.
See also: ‘The History of Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge’ by A. Rook, M. Carlton and W. G Cannon, 1991 ‘About Addenbrookes’ F. Gillespie, Addenbrooke’s NHS Trust, 2000
Records: held at Addenbrooke’s Hospital Archives. Their website includes a summary of the records available and conditions of access.
Cambridge: Evelyn Hospital, Trumpington Road (now Nuffield Health Cambridge Hospital.)
First opened as the Evelyn Nursing Home in 1921 and said to have superseded a hostel run by the Cambridge Nursing Association in Thompson's Lane.
It was built on Trinity College land at a cost of £27,000 by a philanthropic fine art dealer, Charles Morland Agnew, and named The Evelyn Hospital after his wife. Charles' and Evelyn’s ashes are buried in the hospital grounds.
The Hospital is currently run by Nuffield Health, a non-profit health organization and registered charity.
See also: The Evelyn Hospital: a history of seventy-five years of caring by Sheila Mann (C.21.4)
Records: still at the hospital.
Cambridge: Brookfields Hospital, Mill Road,
First known on its establishment in 1884 as The Cambridge Infectious Diseases Hospital then the Cambridge Borough Isolation Hospital.
Sometimes known as ‘The Sanatorium’ it specialized in infectious disease such as scarlet fever, smallpox, typhoid and diphtheria
In 1947, it was absorbed under the umbrella of the United Cambridge Hospitals, (UCH), and became known as Brookfields. It continued as a hospital for infectious diseases until Addenbrooke’s Hospital's Hills Road site was completed in the early 1960s.
Records: Cambridgeshire Archives holds minutes of the Cambridge Borough Sanatorium Committee, later Public Health Committee, 1889-1949 including monthly reports detailing name and address of discharged patients, date of admission etc.
Cambridge: Mill Road Maternity Hospital
Formerly the Cambridge Union Workhouse, in 1906 it was renamed the Poor Law Infirmary and then the County Infirmary in 1930. Before the Second World War it treated mainly the elderly but also had a small maternity unit.
The war delayed plans for a purpose built maternity hospital, and it became classified as an Emergency Medical Services hospital. All patients, excepting maternity patients, were evacuated out.
In 1948 the hospital became known as the Mill Road Maternity Hospital, when it became part of the United Cambridge Hospitals.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s there were lengthy delays with developing new sites, until a local philanthropist, David Robinson stepped in. The new hospital off Hills Road, was opened in 1983, named after Robinson’s mother and became known as the Rosie Maternity Hospital.
Records: Cambridgeshire Archives holds registers of births 1930-35; deaths, 1930-38; in mates; 1930-34; service patients, 1940-44 creed, 1930-38; Master's Report Books, 1930-48 and others.
Rcords of the Rosie Maternity Hospital from 1983 onwards are held at Addenbrooke's Hospital Archives.
Cambridge: First Great Eastern Hospital
Established by the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1908, many of Addenbrooke's medical and nursing staff served on its staff during both world wars.
During World War I the hospital had its headquarters in Trinity College, with beds in the Leys School and in the grounds of Trinity College, and later in temporary buildings on the cricket grounds of Clare College and King's College to the south of Burrell's Walk, with over 1500 beds by the end of 1915.
The hospital continued its war duties until 1920. Albert, Griffiths and Bowtell wards at Addenbrookes being commandeered for this purpose and regarded as an extension of the First Eastern. The last soldiers were withdrawn in March 1919.
During World War II the First Eastern became known as the Twentieth General Hospital. It was commanded by Charles Budd, who had been Senior Anaesthetist at Addenbrooke's. The Leys School, which had been evacuated to Pitlochry, was opened as an annexe of Addenbrookes.
Records: at Addenbrooke's Hospital Archive. Cambridgeshire Archives holds various photographs of the hospital, 1914 [977/Z4-14] and ephemera.
Chesterton : Chesterton Hospital, Union Lane
In 1930 the buildings of the former Chesterton Poor Law Union workhouse were converted into a hospital mainly for the elderly.
In 2003 the old hospital buildings were demolished. The site has been extensively redeveloped, and now consists of housing as well as a new health centre.
Records: held at Cambridgeshire Archives including register of inmates, 1930-38; admission and discharge registers, 1944-57; Creed registers, 1938-50; death registers, 1930-51; Medical Officer’s records of examinations and visits, 1928-53 and a children’s examination book, 1914-53. Other records include Inventory books, Master’s report books and accounts.
Doddington: County Hospital, Benwick Road, March
Originally known as the North Witchford Union Workhouse, North Witchford Poor Law Institution and from c.1929, Doddington Infirmary (Institution).
By 1996 Doddington County Hospital was rebuilt as a single Geriatric Ward and is now known as Doddington Community Hospital.
Records: Cambridgeshire Archives holds Medical Staff Committee minutes, 1951-1953 [R97/08]
Ely: St. John’s Hospital, St John's Road (Ely Isolation Hospital)
The isolation hospital was opened in 1917 at the sole cost of William and Mrs. Emily Ann Cutlack, and by 1937 had 24 beds.
Up to 1948 it was an isolation hospital; a place for sufferers of contagious or infectious disease such as scarlet fever, tuberculosis and polio to be treated and quarantined. Later, it mainly treated geriatric patients before being absorbed by Tower Hospital, Ely in 1962 (as St John's ward).
Records: Cambridgeshire Archives holds Isolation Hospital Joint Committee Minute Books, 1912-48; Treasurer’s accounts,1927-1944; admission and discharge registers,1917-1962 and Medical Officer's reports, 1939-52.
Ely: Tower Hospital, Cambridge Road,
The former Ely Union Workhouse became known as the Ely Poor Law Institution, then the Ely Public Assistance Institution in 1930. It became Tower House Hospital in 1948 later becoming just the Tower Hospital. By 1953 it had specialized units for both geriatric and mental health.
The hospital closed in 1993. The remaining former workhouse buildings were demolished and the site was sold for redevelopment . It is now private housing under the name of Tower Court.
Ely Cottage Hospital, which was on site for elderly and mentally infirm patients, was administered by Fulbourn Hospital. The hospital's functions were transferred to Princess of Wales Hospital, Ely on closure in 1993.
Records: Cambridgeshire Archives holds registers of admission and discharge, 1950-56; deaths, 1935-55; mental defectives, 1950-61 and mechanical restraint, 1952, 1955. There is also a register of baptisms in the chapel, 1912-1950 [P68/R109/017]
Ely: Princess of Wales Hospital, Lynn Road (Royal Airforce Hospital)
Known as the Royal Air Force Hospital, Ely from 1939 - 1987 then the Princess of Wales Royal Air Force Hospital, 1987 - 1992; the present hospital is a successor to the RAF Hospital in little more than name and buildings.
It is occupied by the administration and staff of the former Tower Hospital which moved in when the RAF relinquished it, but the larger premises have accommodated a wider range of services from geriatric, physiotherapy, out-patients, etc. formerly at Tower Hospital.
Records: Aerial view from east, 1968 [539/2/30]
Ely: Grange Maternity Home, Nutholt Lane
Served as an emergency maternity home for evacuees c. 1939-46. Absorbed by the Royal Air Force hospital, Ely as the Grange Maternity Unit in 1976.
Records: Isle of Ely County Council Maternity and Child Welfare Committee minutes, c.1939-48.
Fulbourn: Fulbourn Hospital formerly County Asylum (see separate A-Z entry.)
Fulbourn: Red Cross Hospital
With the onset of the First World War, the need for convalescent hospitals became a matter of some urgency across Britain. In 1914 the Rector of Fulbourn, the Reverend J.V.Durrell gave permission for the infant church school to be used as a Voluntary Aid Detachment Hospital for injured servicemen invalided out from the Front.
Between 1914-18 the hospital helped approximately thousand three hundred and seventy eight injured servicemen. It closed down on the 30th November 1918 and the infants’ school moved back into its premises.
Records: Cambridgeshire Archives holds admission registers,1915-1918 as well as an undated list of casualties, and a detachment roll, 1923-25, 1939 [City records R101/056.]
March: Maternity Home
, Regent Avenue.
Founded in 1940 as March Nursing Home.
Records: Nursing Association reports 1940-6 [482/021, 36] Isle of Ely County Council Maternity and Child Welfare Committee minutes, 1946-8.
Oakington: County Isolation Hospital, Girton Road also known as Oakington Smallpox Hospital.
An isolation hospital was built in 1905 at Midfield by Chesterton Rural District Council. It specialised in scarlet fever and diptheria cases until 1941 when it was bought by the county council and used mainly as a smallpox hospital. After 1945 it had a variety of uses, and in 1986 housed children in care.
Records: minutes, letter books and Medical Officer of Health Reports for Chesterton Rural District Council, 1905-41. Minutes of Cambridgeshire County Council Public Health, Hospital Services and Health Committees, 1941-8.
Papworth Everard: Papworth Hospital,
The newly formed NHS inherited Papworth Hospital in 1948. For further information about its earlier history, the care of tuberculosis patients and the extensive archive we hold at Cambridgeshire Archives see our pages on the Papworth Village Settlement.
The hospital’s medical emphasis has since shifted. Nowadays it has established a reputation for pioneering thoracic surgery, cardiac surgery, cardiology and respiratory medicine. See the separate page on Papworth Hospital for further details.
Wisbech: North Cambridgeshire Hospital, The Park
Known initially as Wisbech Cottage hospital it was founded in 1872 following a donation by Miss Margaret Trafford Southwell. It was intended to provide 'a hospital for the area of the Wisbech Union and all places within 9 miles of the town’.
Built on a site next to Wisbech Park given by Trafford Southwell , the hospital opened with 16 beds. There were strict guidelines for admittance: no children under 4; no one with advanced consumption; disordered senses; epilepsy; smallpox; venereal disease, contagious distemper; no women in advanced pregnancy; no one terminally ill and no one with an incurable illness.
In 1915 casualties from the war occupied these beds, including Belgian as well as British soldiers. Demands upon the hospital grew and the prefix ‘Cottage’ was jettisoned.
In the late twenties a generous donation provided an extension to a Children’s ward. An affiliation with Adenbrooke’s which spanned 1925 -1962 was established to incorporate the newly reorganised State Registration for nurses.
In 1929 funds were raised for an X-ray department and completely new operating theatre, alongside this patient demands upon the hospital increased.
Records: Cambridgeshire Archives holds various committee minutes, 1873-1953; annual reports, 1874-1947; plans and photographs, 1c.1900-93; register of nurses, 1943-6; in-patient registers, 1919-50; case registers, 1950-87; operation books, 1912-53 and press cuttings; 1935-50.
Wisbech: Bowthorpe Hospital, Tavistock Road
Known previously under the names of County Maternity Home and the Bowthorpe Hall Maternity Home, Bowthorpe Hospital was a purpose-built maternity unit and special care baby unit completed in 1953. It closed in 1986 following the opening of the new District General Hospital at King's Lynn.
The Townshend Unit remains open for the elderly mentally infirm and is housed in the same buildings under the King's Lynn and Wisbech NHS Hospital Trust.
Records: Cambridgeshire Archives holds administration records including Hospital returns, 1974-86; annual report, 1994; site plans, 1949-50; opening programme, 1953 and visitors’ book, 1954-75 [R97/8.]
Wisbech: Clarkson Hospital, Lynn Road
Founded in 1842 as the Wisbech Union Workhouse, and later known as the Wisbech Poor Law Institution and then the Wisbech Institution, the Clarkson Hospital was established in 1948, named after Thomas Clarkson (1760–1846), the leading anti-slave campaigner and abolitionist.
The Wisbech Isolation Hospital known as the Barton Hospital Annexe was also used as an annexe for female patients.
Around 1939 a wing of the Public Assistance Institution was set aside as emergency maternity accommodation to cope with evacuees from London. It became known as the County Maternity Home.
Prior to its closure in 1983 the hospital was specializing in geriatric care and was known as the Clarkson Geriatric Day Hospital.
Records: Cambridgeshire Archives holds alphabetical registers of patients, 1942-1969; admission and discharge registers, 1955-1980; registers of deaths, 1954-69; plans for new nurses' training school, 1962 and photographs of the hospital prior to demolition in 1982.