LOST HOSPITALS OF LONDON

Brentwood Maternity Hospital

Ingrave Rd, Shenfield Common, Brentwood, Essex CM15 8TD

Medical dates:

Medical character:

1883 - 1974

Acute. Later, maternity

The Brentwood Cottage Hospital opened around 1883 on the eastern side of Shenfield Common.

It was rebuilt in 1895, largely due to the efforts of a local GP, Dr. J.C. Quennell.

In 1921 it was extended as part of a war memorial to the men who had been killed in WW1. It was renamed the Brentwood District Hospital.

In 1928 the X-ray Department was upgraded, with a radiologist attending every Friday, and the Hospital was redecorated internally. At this period, as well, the Hospital came to an agreement with the Educational Committee of Essex County Council. Essex schoolchildren needing tonsils and adenoids removed were referred to the Hospital. The Council funded this work, which constituted the largest part of the surgery performed at the Hospital. Other common conditions dealt with by the Hospital were phimosis, fractures and abscesses.

At the beginning of the 1930s plans were proposed to extend the Hospital further, but a local businessman, Percy Bayman of Shenfield Place, thought the site too limited for the increasing population of the town. He offered a 20 acre site in Crescent Drive for a new Hospital. This opened in 1934 as the Brentwood District Hospital.

The Hospital continued to function on both sites but in 1947 the Shenfield Common site became a maternity hospital. It joined the NHS in 1948 as the Brentwood Maternity Home, at which time it had 12 beds.

In 1958 it had 14 beds.

It closed in 1974, with 24 beds, during one of the many reorganisations of the NHS.