Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital

Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital was founded in 1838 in a converted private house in the city centre. In 1863 a site of 2 acres in Stoney Stanton Road was acquired from Sir Thomas White's trustees and King Henry VIII Grammar School. Plans and designs were advertised for and those by Mssrs Neville and Son, Architects were adopted. The contract was undertaken by Mr. James Wilson, the foundations stone was laid on 9th August 1864, with completion in less than 2 years. It was of Victorian Gothic style of two storeys with much ornamentation, in the shape of a Maltese Cross. Towers at the entrance were 63ft high and the arms of the cross were 240ft long, with towers at each end. There was a third floor in each tower and it was 140ft front to back. There was a detached "dead house" at the rear. The frontcourt was laid out and planted ornamentally , with iron palisades and a carriage drive through two gates. 

The history of the hospital from 1867 to 1914 is one of steady expansion. An outpatients department was provided in 1910. The First World War was an important factor in the expansion of the hospital, with new wards being built. A major factor in the  growth between the two World Wars was the great expansion of the motor cycle and aircraft industries which resulted in more accident cases.

A hospital expansion scheme was drawn up in 1925 and by 1927 new theatres, labs, in and out patient accommodation was provided. 

The Second World War brought an abrupt end to a century of steady expansion. Bombing in 1940 and 1941 virtually destroyed the hospital. It received 10  direct hits. There was a stead rebuilding of the hospital in the 1950s and 1960s with new Department, wards and clinics.

Over the next decade the hospital will be replaced by a new hospital on the Walsgrave Hospital site.

This page was last updated 07/04/02