Medical dates:

Medical character:

In 1916 the Manor House Estate was commandeered by the War Office and given to the Allied Hospital Benevolent Fund to build a hospital for injured servicemen.

The Manor House Hospital opened on 29th September 1917 with 102 beds housed in temporary huts.  Its administration was located in the Manor House at Golders Hill, which had originally been built by John Bone, Lord of the Manor of Hendon in the 1790s.

In 1919 the Benevolent Fund was renamed the Industrial Orthopaedic Society.  The Hospital began to treat victims of industrial accidents and became a recognised orthopaedic centre.  

By the late 1920s the increased numbers of patients meant that additional buildings were needed, as well as replacement of the temporary huts.  In 1927 the Hospital governors bought the Manor House Estate from the Hampstead Land Company, which had held it in trust for them since 1917.  Because of a shortage of funds for the rebuilding, the patients themselves rebuilt the Hospital, using their time and skills.  

The first new ward block was officially opened by the Duke of York on 22nd October 1931.  The following year the surgeon's residence was built.

 In 1938 a new operating theatre was installed and the second completed wing of the Hospital was opened by Queen Mary.

During WW2 the Ministry of Health requisitioned 48 beds for the Emergency Medical Service to use for civilian casualties.  The Hospital suffered severe blast damage from bombs exploding nearby, but no direct hits or injuries to staff or patients.

In 1948 it was disclaimed from joining the NHS.  It continued to operate as a private, independent, non-profit organisation, run by the Industrial Orthopaedic Society and supported by membership subscriptions from trades unions.  

In 1952 the Industrial Orthopaedic Society bought Ivy House for £12,000.  This 18th century house had once been owned by the Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova, until her death in 1931.  After some extensive internal refurbishment, the ground floor became the Out-Patients Department of the Hospital, while the upper storey provided accommodation for the Sisters and nurses.  The butler's pantry and storeroom became a consulting room and a laboratory.

It had been the intention to build a women's hospital in the grounds of Ivy House, but building restrictions at the time prevented work beginning on the project.

In 1955 Inverforth House was unexpectedly gifted to the Hospital, so Ivy House and a new building were no longer needed.  Ivy House was sold to the New College of Speech and Drama for £48,000.  Its gardens were kept as the Society wished to sell the land to a builder, but planning permission was refused and the land was sold to the College for £40,000.

In 1956 a women's hospital was established at Inverforth House.

On 4th November 1957, whilst on a delegation to the Soviet Union, the General Secretary and President of the National Union of Railwaymen - Jim Campbell and Tom Hollywood - were killed in a road traffic accident in Stalingrad.  The Union collected £7,500 in their memory and donated it to the Hospital.   A new ward - the Campbell-Hollywood Memorial Ward - opened on 12th June 1959.

In 1969 a new four-storey wing with 52 beds and an operating theatre was opened.

In 1996 the Industrial Orthopaedic Society changed its name to Manor House Friendly Society.

  The Hospital was placed into voluntary liquidation in 1998 and closed in 1999.

Present status (March 2008)

The site has been recently demolished and redeveloped by Octagon Homes.  It now contains 'Manor Heights', a luxury gated estate with 16 large town houses and 33 apartments.