Lost_Hospitals_of

In 1915 Mr (later Captain) Clermont Wood offered Barham Lodge to the War Office for use as an auxiliary hospital. The offer was accepted and an appeal was launched to raise funds to adapt the house for hospital use. It was mooted that local residents might like to donate £10 for a bed, which would give them the privilege of naming it.

The Barham Lodge Auxiliary Hospital opened in September 1915 with 35 beds for enlisted servicemen. The first patients arrived in October and the Hospital was soon fully occupied.

The nursing staff consisted of a Matron, a trained nurse, a masseuse, and 3 full-time and 4 part-time members of the local Voluntary Aid Detachment, whose Commandant was Mrs Ethel Locke-King.

At first the Hospital was affiliated to the Tooting Military Hospital. By 1917 the number of beds had been increased to 45 and a small operating theatre installed. The Hospital then became affiliated to the First London General Hospital and, later, to the South African Military Hospital in Richmond.

The Hospital, which was located to the south of Oatlands Drive, opposite the Oatlands Park Hospital, closed on 19th March 1919.

Present status (October 2011)

After the war the house once again became a private residence and, later, a school.

It was demolished in the 1960s and new dwellings were built on the site.

LOST HOSPITALS OF LONDON
	Barham Lodge Auxiliary Hospital 149 Oatlands Drive, Weybridge, Surrey

	Medical dates: Medical character:	1915 - 1919 Convalescent (military)
	In 1915 Mr (later Captain) Clermont Wood offered Barham Lodge to the War Office for use as an auxiliary hospital. The offer was accepted and an appeal was launched to raise funds to adapt the house for hospital use. It was mooted that local residents might like to donate £10 for a bed, which would give them the privilege of naming it. The Barham Lodge Auxiliary Hospital opened in September 1915 with 35 beds for enlisted servicemen. The first patients arrived in October and the Hospital was soon fully occupied. The nursing staff consisted of a Matron, a trained nurse, a masseuse, and 3 full-time and 4 part-time members of the local Voluntary Aid Detachment, whose Commandant was Mrs Ethel Locke-King. At first the Hospital was affiliated to the Tooting Military Hospital. By 1917 the number of beds had been increased to 45 and a small operating theatre installed. The Hospital then became affiliated to the First London General Hospital and, later, to the South African Military Hospital in Richmond. The Hospital, which was located to the south of Oatlands Drive, opposite the Oatlands Park Hospital, closed on 19th March 1919. Present status (October 2011) After the war the house once again became a private residence and, later, a school. It was demolished in the 1960s and new dwellings were built on the site.
	Barham Close, the original driveway off Oatlands Drive, leading to the site. New housing on the site of Barham Lodge. The Oatlands War Memorial Playing Fields (left) with a commemorative wall plaque dedicated to the men of Oatlands who died during WW1 (right). The plaque reads: "To commemorate the victorious issue of the Great War 1914-1918 & the men of Oatlands who gave their lives for King & Country these playing fields are dedicated 1919". The Oatlands War Memorial Charity allotments to the east of the Playing Fields. Both were once part of the grounds of Barham Lodge.
	References (Author unstated) 1917 Red Cross work in Surrey during 1917. British Red Cross Surrey Branch, 5th Annual Report. (Author unstated) 1917 List of the various hospitals treating military cases in the United Kingdom. London, H.M.S.O. (Author unstated) 1920 Red Cross work in Surrey 1918-1919. British Red Cross Society Surrey Branch. Smith J 1996 Monograph No. 58. Auxliary and Military Hospitals in Weybridge and Walton during the First World War. Walton and Weybridge Local History Society. www.kentvad.org www.oatlands-heritage.org
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