Nottingham General Hospital was founded as a charitable institution by public subscription in 1782. One of the major benefactors was John Key, a Nottingham banker who left a legacy of £500 in 1778 for the building of a County Hospital.
His bequest was conditional on a further £1,000 in subscriptions being raised within five years. The Duke of Newcastle and the Nottingham Corporation each gave an acre of land and the cost of the building on Derry Hill, designed by the architect, John Simpson, was almost £5,000. Other prominent subscribers were Richard Arkwright, Sir Henry Cavendish and Peter Nightingale, great uncle of Florence. The formal opening of the building in September 1782 was a major event in Nottingham.
The hospital opened with 44 beds and a small staff. Almost immediately, further beds had to be found and the Derbyshire wing was opened in 1787. Many extensions and additions followed including a third storey built onto the original building (1855), a new wing, located on the Park Row frontage (1879) and the Jubilee Wing (opened 1900), which comprised circular wards. The Cedars, a large house off Mansfield Road donated by Sir Charles Seely in 1897, provided 20 beds for convalescing patients.
The first part of the twentieth century was a period of rapid growth with new buildings, renovations of existing buildings and creation of various specialist departments. Temporary buildings were erected during the First World War to accommodate sick and wounded soldiers
The hospital was the centre for nursing training in Nottingham, and the Nurses Memorial Home (built as a monument to the First World War dead of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire) was opened by the Prince of Wales in 1923. Further extensions to the main hospital buildings included the Ropewalk Wing (1929), the Player Wing (1932) and the Castle Ward (1943).
At the formation of the National Health Service in 1948 and the takeover of the hospital by the Sheffield Regional Hospital Board, Nottingham General Hospital comprised 423 beds and 114 at the Cedars. Further developments after 1948 included the opening of an Intensive Care Unit in 1963 and of the Trent Wing in 1972. In the 1970s accommodation was created for medical students from Nottingham University's new Medical School.
Following the opening of the University Hospital (the Queen's Medical Centre) in 1978, many services were transferred there from the General. The reduction of services continued throughout the 1980s and in 1992 the General Hospital finally closed, with its functions moving either to the University Hospital or the City Hospital.
His bequest was conditional on a further £1,000 in subscriptions being raised within five years. The Duke of Newcastle and the Nottingham Corporation each gave an acre of land and the cost of the building on Derry Hill, designed by the architect, John Simpson, was almost £5,000. Other prominent subscribers were Richard Arkwright, Sir Henry Cavendish and Peter Nightingale, great uncle of Florence. The formal opening of the building in September 1782 was a major event in Nottingham.
The hospital opened with 44 beds and a small staff. Almost immediately, further beds had to be found and the Derbyshire wing was opened in 1787. Many extensions and additions followed including a third storey built onto the original building (1855), a new wing, located on the Park Row frontage (1879) and the Jubilee Wing (opened 1900), which comprised circular wards. The Cedars, a large house off Mansfield Road donated by Sir Charles Seely in 1897, provided 20 beds for convalescing patients.
The first part of the twentieth century was a period of rapid growth with new buildings, renovations of existing buildings and creation of various specialist departments. Temporary buildings were erected during the First World War to accommodate sick and wounded soldiers
The hospital was the centre for nursing training in Nottingham, and the Nurses Memorial Home (built as a monument to the First World War dead of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire) was opened by the Prince of Wales in 1923. Further extensions to the main hospital buildings included the Ropewalk Wing (1929), the Player Wing (1932) and the Castle Ward (1943).
At the formation of the National Health Service in 1948 and the takeover of the hospital by the Sheffield Regional Hospital Board, Nottingham General Hospital comprised 423 beds and 114 at the Cedars. Further developments after 1948 included the opening of an Intensive Care Unit in 1963 and of the Trent Wing in 1972. In the 1970s accommodation was created for medical students from Nottingham University's new Medical School.
Following the opening of the University Hospital (the Queen's Medical Centre) in 1978, many services were transferred there from the General. The reduction of services continued throughout the 1980s and in 1992 the General Hospital finally closed, with its functions moving either to the University Hospital or the City Hospital.