Royal Cornwall Infirmary

Royal Cornwall Infirmary
Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
Royal Cornwall Infirmary
Royal Cornwall Infirmary is located in Cornwall
Royal Cornwall Infirmary
Shown in Cornwall
Geography
LocationTruro, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom
Coordinates50°15′22″N 5°03′18″W / 50.2562°N 5.0549°W / 50.2562; -5.0549
Organisation
Care systemPublic NHS
TypeTeaching
History
Opened1799
Closed1999
Links
ListsHospitals in England

Royal Cornwall Infirmary was a hospital in the south of the centre of Truro, Cornwall, England.

History

The Royal Cornwall Infirmary was designed by William Wood,[1] and paid for by public subscription.[1] It had just 20 beds when it opened on 12 August 1799.[2][1] It was the first of its kind in Cornwall and was designed to service the mining community.[3]

During the First World War it provided 50 beds to the War Office for serious medical cases from the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry.[1] After expanding to provide 180 beds in 1939,[4] it was badly damaged by 500 kg bombs and by machine gun fire on 6 August 1942 during the Second World War.[2][5] It joined the National Health Service in 1947.[1]

Services were transferred from the Infirmary to the Royal Cornwall Hospital at Treliske in the mid-1990s. The infirmary closed down in 1999, and has since been redeveloped with housing.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "The Royal Cornwall Infirmary during the First World War". Royal Cornwall Museum. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  2. ^ a b "How Truro's first hospital was opened in 1799 with just 20 beds and was bombed during WWII". Cornwall Live. 8 July 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  3. ^ Polsue, Joseph (1868). "History of Cornwall". A Complete Parochial History of the County of Cornwall: Compiled from the Best Authorities & Corrected and Improved from Actual Survey. W. Lake. p. 333.
  4. ^ "Royal Cornwall Infirmary". Cornishman. 7 December 1939. p. 9. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  5. ^ Holmes, Lawrence. "The tragic Truro raid of 6 August 1942" (PDF). Retrieved 11 September 2018.