A priory for the Order of the Star of Bethlehem, built in 1247 on Bishopsgate at Liverpool Street, started admitting mental patients in 1357. This was probably the world's first institution to specialise in mental illness. It developed into a horrible place, known as Bedlam, dedicated to the commitment of the insane. In 1676 it moved to the London Wall site and it was this building that was adorned with the Cibber statues of Raving and Melancholy Madness. In 1815 Bedlam moved to the St George's Fields site (at that time owned by the City of London) in Southwark and, when in 1930 it moved out to a site near Beckenham, the Southwark buildings became the Imperial War Museum.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Bethlehem Hospital 1&2
Commemorated ati
Bethlehem Hospital - first
Site of the first Bethlehem Hospital 1247 - 1676. The Corporation of the City...
Bethlehem Hospital - second
Site of the second Bethlehem Hospital, 1676 -1815. The Corporation of the Cit...
Gift from Lord Rothermere
This plaque was unveiled a second time, during the 75th anniversary celebrati...
Harmsworth - IWM
In 1926 Harold Harmsworth, the first Viscount Rothermere, bought the grounds ...
Other Subjects
Percy Lane Oliver
Founder of the first voluntary blood donor service. Born in Fish Street, St Ives, Cornwall. In 1921, he helped found the Camberwell division of the British Red Cross Society, and conceived the idea...
Evelina Hospital for Sick Children
The Evelina Children's Hospital was founded by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild and named for his wife, who had died aged 27 with her child in labour in 1866. It was planned by Dr Arthur Farre in a pu...
City Pest House
From Islington:The Pest House was built in 1594, in the fields where Bath Street is now situated. It served to isolate those suffering from such incurable or infectious diseases as leprosy and the ...
West London Hospital
It was saved from demolition by the Hammersmith and Fulham Historic Buildings Group and was converted to offices.
Dame Rosalind Paget
Nurse and midwife. Trained at the British Lying-in Hospital. She was the first superintendent, and later inspector general, of the Queen's Jubilee Institute for District Nursing at the London Hospi...
Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in to see them