Medical dates:

Medical character:

The Streatham Auxiliary Red Cross Hospital was officially opened on 15th April 1916 by Sir Charles Wakefield (1859-1941), the Lord Mayor of London.  It was a Class A auxiliary hospital affiliated to the Second London (T.F.) General Hospital.  It could accommodate 30 beds (later increased to 33).

The 3-storey building had previously been a hotel and had been donated rent-free for the duration of the war by its owner, Mrs Hughes, who also contributed towards the cost of adapting it for hospital purposes.  Local inhabitants subscribed to the temporary hospital, with a view to its becoming a permanent hospital after the war.

 Various local businessmen contributed to the setting-up of the Hospital, donating money, furniture and clocks.  The well-equipped operating theatre had been paid for with funds raised by the Streatham Hill Congregational Church, and the lounge and smokeroom were furnished using funds from the Streatham Hill High School for Girls (now Streatham and Clapham High School).

The Hospital had 33 beds and the nursing staff consisted of 3 trained nurses (reduced to 2 in early 1918) and  3 full-time and 14 part-time members of the four Streatham Voluntary Aid Detachments (V.A.D.s).  As well as some nursing, all cooking and housework was undertaken by the V.A.D.s.  The Hospital also had facilities for electrical and radiant heat treatment.

The Hospital closed in July 1919.  During its operational life, of the 930 admissions only one patient died.

In 1920 Haslemere became the Streatham Red Cross Medical and Surgical Home.


Present status (July 2010)

No. 3 Christchurch Road is now a modern vicarage fronting on to Cotherstone Road.  The previous vicarage behind Christ Church had suffered bomb damage in 1940 during WW2 and had become uninhabitable.   Half the grounds of Haslemere are now covered by a side entrance and a classroom block of the Christ Church Streatham Primary School.