Charing Cross Hospital
Agar Street, West Strand. WC2N 4JP
Medical dates:
Medical character:
1818 - 1973
Acute.
Teaching Hospital.
The Hospital and Medical School were founded by Dr. Benjamin
Golding in 1818 as the West London Infirmary and Dispensary.
In 1823 the Hospital moved to a larger building in Villiers
Street and provided 12 in-patient beds. It changed its
name in 1827 to Charing Cross Hospital and plans were made to build a
much larger hospital.
The new Hospital opened in 1834 in Agar Street with 60 beds. There was also accommodation for 22 medical students.
The building was extended many times but the site in Agar Street became
too cramped and there was no more possibility of expansion. After
WW2 it was decided that the Hospital should move out of central London.
The Hospital closed in 1973, when the new Charing Cross Hospital opened on the site of the old Fulham Hospital in St Dunstan's Road, Hammersmith, several miles west of the city centre.
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Present status (November 2007) |
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The corner of the former Hospital at William IV Street and Agar Street, as seen from the Strand.
The main entrance of the Charing Cross Police Station in Agar Street.
Looking towards the Strand down Agar Street (left) and William IV Street (right).
The original foundation stone has been installed at the base of the west corner of the building in Chandos Place.
References
Barry G, Carruthers LA 2005 A History of Britain's Hospitals. Sussex, Book Guild Publishing.
Black N 2006 Walking London's Medical History. London, Royal Society of Medicine Press.
Hunter W 1914 Historical account of Charing Cross Hospital and Medical School. London, Murray.
www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A798186 (Accessed March 2008)
www.british-history.ac.uk