Cottage Hospital
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A cottage hospital is a mostly obsolete type of small hospital, most commonly found in the United Kingdom. The original concept was a small rural building having several beds.The Cottage Hospitals 1859–1990, Dr. Meyrick Emrys-Roberts, Tern Publications, Motcombe, Dorset. 1991, The advantages of such a hospital in villages were the provision of care which avoided long journeys to county or voluntary hospitals, facilities to deal more immediately with emergencies, and familiarity the local physician might have with their patients that may affect their treatment. This local knowledge of the patient would probably have been lost had they been referred to their nearest county hospital, as was typical for poorer patients. Some of these buildings continued to be known as cottage hospitals until recent times. In particular, several are still recognisable in
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
within the infrastructure of
NHS Grampian NHS Grampian is an NHS board which forms one of the fourteen regional health boards of NHS Scotland. It is responsible for proving health and social care services to a population of over 500,000 people living in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray ...
,
Kirkcudbrightshire Kirkcudbrightshire ( ) or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the Counties of Scotland, historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an ...
,
Dumfries & Galloway Dumfries and Galloway (; ) is one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, located in the western part of the Southern Uplands. It is bordered by East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire to the north; Scottish Borders to the no ...
, and in
Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...
and
Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
in
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, an example being the Aldeburgh Cottage Hospital, which is still working as a traditional cottage hospital. The term
community hospital A community hospital can be purely a nominal designation or have a more specific meaning. When specific, it refers to a hospital that is accessible to the general public and provides a general or specific medical care which is usually short-term, i ...
is now applied to most of these buildings where they are used to deliver healthcare, reflecting the wider range of services that are provided in more modern times.


Background

Following
King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement w ...
's Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536-40, only a few hospitals remained in use: St Thomas', St Bartholomew's, the
Bethlehem Hospital Bethlem Royal Hospital, also known as St Mary Bethlehem, Bethlehem Hospital and Bedlam, is a psychiatric hospital in Bromley, London. Its famous history has inspired several horror books, films, and television series, most notably '' Bedlam'', ...
for the insane and two
lock hospital A lock hospital was an establishment that specialised in treating venereal disease, sexually transmitted diseases. They operated in Britain and its colonies and territories from the 18th century to the 20th. History The military had a close ...
s for the treatment of syphilis. From the mid-16th century until the Voluntary Hospital Movement in the early part of the 18th century there was a dearth of hospital care in the UK. The first voluntary hospital created to provide free care through the philanthropic action of doctors and surgeons for the ill poor was the French Hospital in
Finsbury Finsbury is a district of Central London, forming the southeastern part of the London Borough of Islington. It borders the City of London. The Manorialism, Manor of Finsbury is first recorded as ''Vinisbir'' (1231) and means "manor of a man c ...
, London, started in 1718 by
Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...
immigrants. The movement developed with the opening of
Westminster Hospital Westminster Hospital was a hospital in London, England, founded in 1719. In 1834 a medical school attached to the hospital was formally founded. In 1939 a newly built hospital and medical school opened in Horseferry Road, Westminster. In 1994 the ...
near
St James's Park St James's Park is a urban park in the City of Westminster, central London. A Royal Park, it is at the southernmost end of the St James's area, which was named after a once isolated medieval hospital dedicated to St James the Less, now the ...
. This was followed by the commissioning of
St George's Hospital St George's Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Tooting, London. Founded in 1733, it is one of the UK's largest teaching hospitals. It is run by the St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It shares its main hospital site i ...
at Hyde Park Corner. Over the next 50 years, voluntary hospitals were built across the UK with a larger number in the south of England, although one of the largest voluntary hospitals opened in Edinburgh in 1729. Funding was problematic in the early years as the development of voluntary hospitals competed with government, county and local funding for the provision of care under the
Poor Law In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...
Acts of 1722 and 1782. The County Hospitals received enormous public charity support. Alongside these care facilities were dispensaries. Accommodated in a single building, they provided what is now called out-patient and day-patient care. Medicines (termed ‘physics’) were prescribed, and minor surgical procedures as well as cupping and
bleeding Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethr ...
were carried out, the patient returning to their home after treatment.


History

In 1818 the village surgeon, Mr.
Henry Lilley Smith Henry Lilley Smith was born in Southam, Warwickshire, England in 1787 or 1788. He became assistant surgeon to the 45th Regiment and obtained a diploma of MRCS in 1810 and then practised at Southam, where he was appointed parish surgeon. In A ...
opened a dispensary in
Southam Southam () is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England, located about east-southeast of Leamington Spa. In the 2021 census, the population of Southam was 8,114. History Southam was a Royal ...
,
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...
. This comprised an 8 bed-roomed cottage with 4 beds. It was for the use of manual labourers and their families. Except in name this facility fulfills the broad definition of a cottage hospital. p20 In 1827 Sir
Astley Cooper Sir Astley Paston Cooper, 1st Baronet (23 August 176812 February 1841) was a British surgeon and anatomist, who made contributions to otology, vascular surgery, the anatomy and pathology of the mammary glands and testicles, and the pathology ...
converted some cottages at
Piccotts End Piccotts End is a village in Hertfordshire, England situated on the upper River Gade. While often mistaken for a hamlet, it became a village when its church – All Saints – was dedicated in 1907 and remained a place of worship until the 1970 ...
, close to Hemel Hempstead, into the first cottage hospital providing free medical services. 1842 saw the commissioning of a cottage hospital in Wellow,
Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...
with six beds and managed by a board which included many eminent gentlemen. Mr. W Squire Ward was the surgeon on its inception and remained so for 25 years. One nurse was employed with occasional assistance and a wide range of surgical interventions were successfully carried out. p21 Between 1855 and 1898, 294 cottage hospitals were established. In 1859, Albert Napper converted a small cottage into a hospital in the village of
Cranleigh Cranleigh is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Waverley, Surrey, England. It lies southeast of Guildford on a minor road east of the A281, which links Guildford with Horsham. It is in the north-west corner ...
in Surrey. This hospital opened because Napper was concerned that there were no local hospital facilities for the poor in the village.
St Thomas’ Hospital St Thomas' Hospital is a large National Health Service, NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, together with Guy's Hospital, Evelina London Children's Hospital, R ...
was the nearest voluntary hospital and that was about 45 kilometres away on unmade roads, a dangerous journey for an ill person. The only other possibility for care was in a local
workhouse In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse (, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as Scottish poorhouse, poorh ...
infirmary but this was some 12 kilometres away in Guildford, had no trained nurses and carried the real (at that time) risk of the patient being stigmatized as a pauper. The third possibility was to stay at home; in those days and for poor people this condition is indicated by Horace Swete, a village surgeon in
Wrington Wrington is a village and a civil parish, civil and ecclesiastical parish on the north slopes of the Mendip Hills in North Somerset, England. Both include nearby Redhill, Somerset, Redhill. Wrington lies in the valley of the Congresbury Yeo riv ...
in
Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...
, UK, in his book of 1870. The moneyed class could afford much better conditions and treatment in private hospital without the risk of loss of employment, a slide in poverty or worse. Albert Napper's sympathy for the poorer classes was shared by the Reverend JH Sapte, Rector of Cranley (as the name was than spelled) and they fostered the idea of finding some accommodation for the care and nursing of the ill poor. Then an occurrence of a single incident is recorded by Swete as being the catalyst for the development of the cottage hospital. Sapte was riding across the common in Cranley when he heard of a serious accident. The victim had been carried to a nearby cottage and when Sapte arrived he found Napper and two assistants amputating the leg of the injured man. This incident confirmed for both men the need for some local facility where sick or injured people could receive urgent care. Sapte made a cottage available, rent-free, which after being whitewashed and simply furnished opened after a few weeks as the first cottage hospital. That same cottage still exists today at the entrance to Cranleigh Village Hospital. Napper proceeded to admit local patients to the Village Hospital, as it was called, and kept records from the start. Among the first 100 patients he recorded "
compound fracture An open fracture, also called a compound fracture, is a type of bone fracture (broken bone) that has an open wound in the skin near the fractured bone. The skin wound is usually caused by the bone breaking through the surface of the skin. An open fr ...
of both bones in the leg", "extensive cicatrix from a burn", "chronic pneumonia in both lungs", "multiple injuries" and amputation of fingers in a boy".


Examples

*
Turriff Cottage Hospital Turriff Cottage Hospital is a community hospital in Turriff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Grampian. History The hospital was designed by James Duncan as a joint infectious diseases hospital to serve both the burgh and district. ...
* Ruth Lancaster James Hospital, Alston,
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
* Fleming Cottage Hospital,
Aberlour Aberlour () is a village in Moray, Scotland, south of Elgin, Moray, Elgin on the road to Grantown-on-Spey, Grantown. The Lour Burn (landform), burn is a tributary of the River Spey, and it and the surrounding parish are both named Aberlour, bu ...
,
Moray Moray ( ; or ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Its council is based in Elgin, the area' ...
. * Stephen Cottage Hospital * Wells Cottage Hospital,
Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...
* Castle Douglas Cottage Hospital * Lochmaben Hospital,
Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway (; ) is one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, located in the western part of the Southern Uplands. It is bordered by East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire to the north; Scottish Borders to the no ...
* Cottage Hospital, Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan * Swanage Cottage Hospital, Dorset, UK *
Stretford Memorial Hospital Stretford Memorial Hospital was a health facility in Seymour Grove, Stretford, Greater Manchester. It was managed by Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It closed in 2015. History The building in which the hospital was ...
(formerly the Stretford Practitioners' Hospital) was in its early days a cottage hospital used for women and children only.''The Book of Manchester and Salford''; written for the British Medical Association. Manchester: George Falkner & Sons, 1929; pp. 150-51 * Harlington, Harmondsworth and Cranford Cottage Hospital, Middlesex. * Aldeburgh Cottage Hospital *
House of Mercy Houses of Mercy were Anglican institutions that operated from the mid 19th century to the mid 20th. They were to house "fallen women", a term used to imply female sexual promiscuity or work in prostitution. Many women entering were unmarried mot ...
,
Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the most populous city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfi ...
*
Nantucket Cottage Hospital Nantucket Cottage Hospital is a not-for-profit regional medical center located in Nantucket, Massachusetts and is the only hospital on the island. Founded in 1911 and conceived by the visions of Dr. John S. Grouard and Dr. Benjamin Sharp. The ...
,
Nantucket Island Nantucket () is an island in the state of Massachusetts in the United States, about south of the Cape Cod peninsula. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined cou ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
* Cottage Hospitals in Newfoundland, Canada * Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital *
Uxbridge Cottage Hospital Uxbridge Cottage Hospital is a cottage hospital in Uxbridge, Ontario. History Opened in 1958 after a decade of planning, Uxbridge Hospital has undergone renovations with additions in 1967 and 1996 to 1998 (covered area at the main entrance and in ...
,
Uxbridge, Ontario Uxbridge is a township in the Regional Municipality of Durham in south-central Ontario, Canada. Communities The main centre in the township is the namesake community of Uxbridge. Other settlements within the township include the following: ...
, Canada


See also

*


References


External links


''Images of England''
Definition of Cottage Hospital

Submitted by Alan Longbottom. Original source ''The Builder'' 1868 Vol XXVI pp145. 29 February 1868
Wells Cottage Hospital
{{Hospital articles 1827 establishments History of medicine in the United Kingdom History of hospitals