LOST HOSPITALS OF LONDON

St Peter's Hospital
Fulbourne Road, Whitechapel, E1
Medical dates:

Medical character:
1930 - 1944

General

Following the Local Government Act, 1929, when the Boards of Guardians were dissolved, the LCC took over the Whitechapel Union Infirmary at the corner of Vallance Road and Fulbourne Street for use as a general hospital.  The Infirmary was renamed St Peter's Hospital.

Its main block was located along Vallance Road, which ran on a north-south axis.  The building was 5 storeys high and its frontage measured 128 feet (39 metres); it was 43 feet (13 metres) deep).  A 6-storey block ran parallel to the front block and was 82 feet (25 metres) wide by 23 feet (7 metres) deep.  Both were linked centrally by a 2-storey building.  Other smaller buildings were located at the rear of the site, including a third block measuring 50 feet (15 metres) by 30 feet (9 metres).

In 1938 the Hospital had 404 beds.

During WW2, when it had 395 beds, the buildings were severely damaged by one of the war's first V1 flying bombs in 1944.  The Hospital was forced to close temporarily.

Closure proved permanent and the Hospital did not transfer to the Ministry of Health following the establishment of the NHS in 1948.


Present status (October 2008)

The Hospital was demolished in the 1960s.  The site now contains Lister House and other housing.  

Lister House  new housing
Lister House (left) and new housing (right) now occupy the site of the Hospital.

The Whitechapel Union Infirmary

The Infirmary had originally been the Whitechapel and Spitalfields Union workhouse, built on the corner of Charles
and Thomas Streets around 1842 to replace the Spitalfields parish wokhouse.  In 1859 most of the Union workhouse was rebuilt.

The Metropolitan Poor Act, 1867, required that workhouse infirmaries should be located in a building separate from the workhouse.  To this end, in 1872, the Whitechapel Guardians erected a new workhouse at South Grove, on a site adjacent to the City of London workhouse, and the Charles Street building became the Union Infirmary.

The street names have changed progressively, following both urban development and post-war redevelopment.  

Charles Street was incorporated into Baker's Row when the street was widened in the late 19th century.  In 1896 the streets were renamed and renumbered and the original Charles Street then became Vallance Road, apparently named after W. Vallance, Clerk to the Metropolitan Asylums Board.

Thomas Street was renamed Fulbourne Street.  Today, Lomas Street follows roughly the line of Fulbourne Street.

References
http://wiki.casebook.org
www.british-history.ac.uk
www.guy-singer.com
www.institutions.org.uk
www.workhouses.org.uk

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