This year King’s will celebrate its 100th year in Camberwell. To mark this special and exciting occasion, the hospital is to hold a series of events that will take place across the year. The main theme of the centenary is to very much reflect and celebrate King’s role in the local community.
Before the Hospital moved to Camberwell in 1913, King’s was based on Portugal Street, Holborn. It wasn’t until the Hon. William Frederick Danvers Smith (later Lord Hambledon, 1868-1928), a member of the W.H. Smith family, purchased 12 acres of land in Denmark Hill, and presented it to King’s in 1903 that the basis for the move was set.
After Parliament approved the move, an anonymous donation of £50,000 was received to help the rebuilding project and on 26 July 1913, King George V and Queen Mary officially opened the new King’s, which had 300 beds.
During World War One a large part of the hospital was requisitioned by the War Office for use as a military hospital. Only four wards and the Casualty Department remained available for civilian patients and as casualties grew a field hospital was erected in Ruskin Park.
During the 1920s, new departments were established at King’s in diabetes, neurology and antenatal care as well as the Dental School which opened in 1923.
During World War Two, King’s became a casualty clearing station for air raid victims. The operating theatres were relocated to the basement of the hospital, and patients in the higher wards were moved to the basement during bombing raids. Amazingly, apart from incendiary bombs, King’s was only hit once by a small bomb.
A range of events and celebrations are being planned to mark the Centenary including the open day on 7 July. A series of public lectures by some of the hospital’s leading clinicians and also the erection of a new piece of public art commemorate the year.
King’s would also like to hear from local people about their memories of the hospital so that they can be collated and kept as a lasting social commentary about the hospital. If you have any stories or thoughts to share then please send them to Carolyn Ruston, Head of Stakeholder Relations at [email protected] or post them to Carolyn at King’s College Hospital, Unit 2 Business Park, Denmark Hill, SE5 9SY
King’s College Hospital – 100 years in Camberwell
Nurses on the grass outside King’s
This year King’s will celebrate its 100th year in Camberwell. To mark this special and exciting occasion, the hospital is to hold a series of events that will take place across the year. The main theme of the centenary is to very much reflect and celebrate King’s role in the local community.
Before the Hospital moved to Camberwell in 1913, King’s was based on Portugal Street, Holborn. It wasn’t until the Hon. William Frederick Danvers Smith (later Lord Hambledon, 1868-1928), a member of the W.H. Smith family, purchased 12 acres of land in Denmark Hill, and presented it to King’s in 1903 that the basis for the move was set.
After Parliament approved the move, an anonymous donation of £50,000 was received to help the rebuilding project and on 26 July 1913, King George V and Queen Mary officially opened the new King’s, which had 300 beds.
During World War One a large part of the hospital was requisitioned by the War Office for use as a military hospital. Only four wards and the Casualty Department remained available for civilian patients and as casualties grew a field hospital was erected in Ruskin Park.
During the 1920s, new departments were established at King’s in diabetes, neurology and antenatal care as well as the Dental School which opened in 1923.
During World War Two, King’s became a casualty clearing station for air raid victims. The operating theatres were relocated to the basement of the hospital, and patients in the higher wards were moved to the basement during bombing raids. Amazingly, apart from incendiary bombs, King’s was only hit once by a small bomb.
A range of events and celebrations are being planned to mark the Centenary including the open day on 7 July. A series of public lectures by some of the hospital’s leading clinicians and also the erection of a new piece of public art commemorate the year.
King’s would also like to hear from local people about their memories of the hospital so that they can be collated and kept as a lasting social commentary about the hospital. If you have any stories or thoughts to share then please send them to Carolyn Ruston, Head of Stakeholder Relations at [email protected] or post them to Carolyn at King’s College Hospital, Unit 2 Business Park, Denmark Hill, SE5 9SY