LOST HOSPITALS OF LONDON

East Ham Isolation Hospital
Roman Road, East Ham, E7
Medical dates:

Medical character:
1894 -1941

Infectious diseases
By the end of the 19th century London boroughs were beginning to establish their own hospitals for smallpox and other infectious diseases.

In 1894 an isolation hospital was opened by the East Ham local board to deal with the frequent outbreaks of smallpox, typhoid and diphtheria in the area.  The East Ham Isolation Hospital was an iron hut erected near the Beckton sewage works.

In 1902 it was transferred - still in temporary buildings - to a new site at the end of Roman Road, south of The Greenway (the Northern Outfall Sewer).  Permanent buildings were erected between 1907 and 1909.

In 1931, having been taken over by the LCC, the Hospital was completely reconstructed with separate blocks for individual infections.

During WW2 the buildings were used as an ambulance station.  Soldiers were also billeted there.  However, much of the Hospital  was destroyed by bombs during the Blitz in 1941.

After the War the surviving ward blocks were used to house homeless people awaiting rehousing.

The Hospital never reopened and new schools were later built on the site.


Present status (June 2008)

The site is now occupied by a primary and a secondary school.  Newham University Hospital is nearby.

Roman Road
The gate to the schools' drive at the west end of Roman Road

Secondary school
The secondary school as seen from Roman Road

Secondary school
The secondary school from The Greenway (above and right)
Primary school
The primary school as seen from Roman Road


Primary school
The primary school from The Greenway, obscured by trees



Primary school



Another hospital built near sewage works was the Mogden Isolation Hospital (later South Middlesex Hospital).  In fact, isolation hospitals and sewage works seemed to have an affinity.
References
www.british-history.ac.uk
www.newhamstory.com (1)
www.newhamstory.com (2)
www.newhamstory.com (3)
www.portcities.org.uk
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