LOST HOSPITALS OF LONDON

 Stormont House
Red Cross Hospital
75 Downs Park Road, Hackney Downs, E5 8NP
Medical dates:

Medical character:
1916 - 1919

Convalescent (military)

In October 1915 the British Red Cross Society rented the Stormont House Industrial School for Little Boys (which had been a residential school for blind defective boys from 1904 to 1911) from the LCC at a nominal rent of 1 shilling (5p) a month.  The building was converted for use as a military hospital and was officially opened on 29th January 1916 by the Lord Mayor of London, accompanied by the Lady Mayoress and the Sheriffs.

The Hospital, with 42 beds for enlisted servicemen, was a Class B auxiliary hospital to the City of London Military Hospital in Lower Clapton.  It provided its convalescent patients with good food and plenty of entertainment.  River trips, drives into the countryside and outings to Epping Forest were organised, and patients were also invited to teas, concerts and theatrical performances.  In good weather they could sit out on the lawn in deck-chairs, while in bad they could play indoor games or hold whist drives.  The Hospital also had a piano.

After the Battle of Delville Wood many South African casualties were admitted.

The Hospital closed in March 1919.  During the 39 months of its operational life, some 1,192 soldiers had been admitted.  None had died.


Present status (September 2010)

After the war the house and grounds became Stormont House Open Air School, a special day school for children with tuberculosis.

Today the building has been replaced but the site remains Stormont House School, now a Community Special School for children with special educational needs.

Stormont House School
Stormont House School

Hackney Downs
The School compound from the west.

Stormont House School
The School as seen from the east, adjacent to the entrance to Hackney Downs.

  Hackey Downs map  
Hackney Downs history
A local map of Hackney Downs, with the School occupying the triangular-shape at the bottom (left).  A history of Hackney Downs is posted by the entrance to the park.
References
(Author unstated) 1917 List of the various hospitals treating military cases in the United Kingdom.  London, H.M.S.O.

(Author unstated) 1923 The Great War 1914-1918.  Record of the Hackney and Stoke Newington Division of the British Red Cross Society.  London, self-published.

www.20thcenturylondon.org.uk

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