Middlesex Hospital

The Middlesex Hospital was opened in 1745 as the Middlesex Infirmary in Windmill Street, London W1. The Infirmary started with 18 beds to provide medical treatment for the poor. Funding came from subscriptions and in 1747, the hospital became the first in England to add 'lying-in' (inpatient) beds.

The foundation stone on the Mortimer Street site was laid in 1755 by the then President of the Hospital, the Earl of Northumberland and was opened in 1757 as The Middlesex Hospital. The Hospital was Incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1836, allowing it various benefits as a charity.

Over the years, extra wings were added but in 1924, it was decided that the building was about to collapse and something had to be done. The Duke of York, later King George VI, visited the Hospital to lay the foundation stone of the new building, on 26 June 1928. He returned to the Hospital on 29 May 1935 to open the new building. The Hospital had been completely rebuilt, on the same site and in stages, without being closed at any stage, paid for by more than £1 million of donations from members of the public.

In 1992 the St. Peter's Hospitals were closed down and moved into new accommodation in the Middlesex Hospital, which itself was merged with University College London (UCL) Hospital in 1994. The Middlesex closed in December 2005. The Hospitals final home in Mortimer Street was sold to developer Project Abbey (Guernsey) Ltd for £110m to finance the UCL Hospital PFI scheme on Euston Road.