Medical dates:

Medical character:

In 1912 Hemnall House opened as the Epping and District Cottage Hospital - a voluntary hospital established to commemorate the coronation of King George V.  It had 11 beds.

In 1927 the average cost of an in-patient per week was £4 9s 10d (£4.49).  A new Nurses' Sitting Room was built, paid for by the late Gerald Buxton.  By 1928 the average weekly cost of an in-patient had risen to £5 10s 10d (£5.54).  Electricity was installed in 1928, including a Zeiss 'Pantophos' lamp over the operating table.  A new X-ray machine was also installed.

In 1939 the Hospital was left £1000 by Emily Field to establish a bed 'for the use of poor persons'.

At the outbreak of WW2 the Hospital joined the Emergency Medical Service with 11 beds.

After the war it was mainly used for maternity patients, although some minor operations were carried out as well as some general medical work.  The use of the Hospital declined and, by the time it joined the NHS in 1948 under the control of the Epping Group Hospital Management Committee, on average less than 4 beds were occupied daily.

In January 1950 the Matron resigned and the Hospital was temporarily closed due to lack of staff.  The North East Metropolitan Regional Health Board suggested that the building be used as a Nurses' Home for St Margaret's Hospital (about a mile away) until a Nurses' Home could be erected there.

A deal was made that the General Practitioners who used the Hospital would be given beds instead at St Margaret's Hospital.  The Hospital remained closed and the building became a Nurses' Home for senior nursing staff.

Present status (June 2008)

The  building has become Hemnall House again.  It has been renovated and is now used as a residence for homeless people.