Medical dates:

Medical character:

Shortly after the end of WW1 (1914-1918) the West Norwood Maternity Home opened in Nos. 106-108 Knights Hill.

In one week in 1921 that saw 34 births at the Home, two sets of twins and one set of triplets were born - an unusual occurrence (the usual proportion in London was one twin birth in 88).  It was commented at the time that twins and triplets were more often born to poor mothers than to the well-to-do.

In 1926 the Home moved to Milburn House, a large mansion at No. 210 Knights Hill, which had been purchased for the purpose by Lambeth Borough Council.

After amalgamating other services in Lambeth, the Home was then renamed the Lambeth Borough Council Maternity Home (it was also known as the Lambeth Maternity and Child Welfare Home).  It had 22 beds in 4 wards.

The Home was evacuated at the beginning of WW2 in 1939.  It never re-opened.


Present status (June 2011)

The buildings on the first site of the Home, at Nos.106-108 Knights Hill, have been demolished.  The site is now occupied by the Trinity Baptist Church, which opened in 1994.

After WW2 No. 210 became a Day Nursery until the mid 1950s.  The original building was demolished in the early 1990s and Knights Hill House, a two-storey residential care home, built in its place.  It was officially opened on 22nd April 1993 by Princess Alexandra. It provided 36 beds and 12 day care places for severely mentally infirm patients from the Bethlem Royal Hospital and the Maudsley Hospital.

The care home closed in 2007 and the land was sold by the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust.

UPDATE:  June 2018

The new £5m West Norwood Fire Station was built on the site.  It was officially opened by Penny Mordaunt, M.P., on 25th November 2014.