Royal Cornwall Infirmary
Royal Cornwall Infirmary was a hospital in the south of the centre of Truro, Cornwall, England.
| Royal Cornwall Infirmary | |
|---|---|
| Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust | |
 Royal Cornwall Infirmary | |
| |
  Shown in Cornwall | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Truro, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 50.2562°N 5.0549°W |
| Organisation | |
| Care system | Public NHS |
| Type | Teaching |
| History | |
| Opened | 1799 |
| Closed | 1999 |
| Links | |
| Lists | Hospitals in England |
History
The Royal Cornwall Infirmary was designed by William Wood,[1] and paid for by King George IV.[2] 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] It joined the National Health Service in 1947.[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]
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
- "The Royal Cornwall Infirmary during the First World War". Royal Cornwall Museum. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
- "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.
- 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.
- "Royal Cornwall Infirmary". Cornishman. 7 December 1939. p. 9. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
- Holmes, Lawrence. "The tragic Truro raid of 6 August 1942" (PDF). Retrieved 11 September 2018.