Nottingham General Hospital

Nottingham General Hospital in 1815

Nottingham General Hospital from The History and Antiquities of Nottingham by James Orange, 1840

The hospital was the result of a legacy from John Key, a wealthy banker, who had left money in his will for hospitals to be built in Nottingham and York.[1] The site selected for the hospital in Nottingham was part of the area known as Nottingham Park, immediately to the north of Nottingham Castle and near the wharves: one half of the land was given by Thomas Pelham-Clinton, 3rd Duke of Newcastle for the purpose and the other half by the town corporation.[2]

The foundation stone for the first building, which had been designed by John Simpson, was laid on 12 February 1781 and the hospital opened with 44 beds in September 1782.[2][3] John Wesley, the theologian, was an early visitor to the hospital.[4]

The hospital was extended with the Derbyshire wing, financed by a large donation from Henry Cavendish,[5][6] which opened in 1787.[3]

In 1844 the hospital had to respond to a major disaster when 12 people were killed and over a hundred injured when a stand collapsed at a public hanging on Garner's Hill.[7]

A design for a third storey for the original building was developed by Thomas Chambers Hine and the works completed in 1855.[3][7] Another new wing on the Park Row frontage opened in 1879, and the Jubilee Wing, designed by Alfred Waterhouse in a circular shape to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, opened in 1900.[3][8]

During the First World War 102 beds were made available to the Government for wounded soldiers.[9]

The Nurses Memorial Home was opened by the Prince of Wales in 1923 as a monument to the soldiers of Nottinghamshire who had died in the First World War.[3] Extensions financed by donations from William Goodacre Player included the Ropewalk Wing opened by Princess Mary in 1929,[10] the Player Wing opened in 1932[11] and the Castle Ward, designed by Evans, Clark and Woollatt,[12] which opened in 1943.[3][13]

In 1948, at the formation of the National Health Service, the hospital came under the Sheffield Regional Hospital Board.[3] The hospital comprised 423 beds at that time.[3] The Intensive Care Unit was completed in 1963 and the Trent Wing was opened by Sir Keith Joseph in 1972.[3][14] After services had transferred to the Queen's Medical Centre, the hospital closed in 1992.[3] The main hospital block is now home to the offices of Nottingham City Clinical Commissioning Group and Nottingham CityCare Partnership.[15]

• Bittiner, John Bruce; Lowe, David (1990). Nottingham General Hospital - Personal Reflections (PDF). Nottingham: Special Trustees for Nottingham University Hospitals.

• Nottingham University website: Nottingham Park, with early print of hospital
• Dermatology in Nottingham: Dr B.R. Allen (history specifically of the dermatology department, but includes much background information on the whole hospital)