Hospitals in Enfield a history

The hospitals serving the Enfield area are of widely differing origins. Three hospitals (Chase Farm, North Middlesex and St Michael's) are based in former Poor Law premises. Two others (Highlands and St Ann's) are former isolation hospitals. Others (Wood Green and Southgate, Prince of Wales and War Memorial) were originally voluntary hospitals. Also represented are the large Victorian mental hospitals (Friern and Claybury). These various hospitals came under common management only after the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948.

Chase Farm, The Ridgeway, Enfield
Built in 1886 by the Edmonton Board of Guardians as a Poor Law orphanage. The children had previously been housed at the Enfield Workhouse (now St Michael's Hospital). Control passed in 1930 to Middlesex County Council. The establishment was gradually run down with the children being transferred to more suitable children's homes elsewhere. By 1938 it was being used to house old people. It became a hospital in 1939, playing a major part in dealing with World War II air raid casualties. Since the war the hospital has been progressively enlarged and refurbished. Plans for a new district hospital on the site were shelved in 1990 on the ground of cost.

Claverings, Picketts Lock Lane, N9
A temporary Isolation hospital built by Edmonton Council to cope with the victims of the 1902 smallpox epidemic. The buildings were kept intact in case of further need but were destroyed by fire in 1927 and not replaced.

Greentrees, Tottenhall Road, N13
Built in 1902 by Southgate Council as the Southgate Isolation hospital. After 1948 it was renamed as Greentrees and was used as an annexe to the North Middlesex Hospital. It was closed in 1988 and has since been demolished.

Grovelands, The Bourne N14
Built as a private house in 1797. It became a temporary hospital for wounded soldiers in 1916. In 1921 it became a convalescent hospital attached to the Royal Northern. It was closed in 1977. It was re-opened in 1986 after extensive renovation as a private psychiatric hospital.

Highlands, Worlds End Lane, Enfield
Built as an isolation hospital by the Metropolitan Asylums Board 1885/90. In 1930, on the abolition of the Metropolitan Asylums Board, control passed to the London County Council. It became an emergency bed service hospital in 1939. At the time of writing (1991), the hospital is being progressively run down ready for closure.

North Middlesex, Sterling Way N18
Built in 1842 by the Edmonton Board of Guardians as the Edmonton Union Workhouse. A separate infirmary block was opened in 1910. Much of the building was taken over as a military hospital in 1915. It returned to civilian use in 1920 and was re-named the North Middlesex Hospital.

An outpatients department opened in 1922. A radium department (for the treatment of cancers) opened in 1930. On the abolition of the Edmonton Board of Guardians in 1930, control of the hospital passed to the Middlesex County Council. Control was transferred to the National Health Service in 1948. The hospital recently (1991) opted out of N.H.S. control and is now administered by an independent trust.

St David's, Silver Street N18
Millfield House, Silver Street, Edmonton was acquired by the Strand Board of Guardians in 1849 for use as a Poor Law orphanage. The orphanage was closed in 1913 and the building was sold to the Metropolitan Asylums Board. During the early part of World War I the building was used to house Belgian refugees. It became a hospital for epileptics in 1917. Control passed to the London County Council in 1930. Closed in 1971. The building survives as the Millfield House Arts Centre.

St Michael's, Chase Side Crescent, Enfield
Built in 1827 as the Enfield Parish Workhouse replacing an earlier building on the site purchased in 1740. Control passed to the Edmonton Board of Guardians in 1836. Between 1837 and the opening of Chase Farm in 1886, it was used as an orphanage. After this time it was used to house the elderly and infirm. Control passed to Middlesex County Council in 1930 and to the N.H.S. in 1948. It is now a geriatric hospital.

South Lodge, Worlds End Lane, Enfield
Opened in 1900 as the Enfield Isolation Hospital replacing a temporary building erected in Lincoln Road in 1891. Control passed in 1905 to the Enfield and Edmonton Joint Hospital Board. The N.H.S. took over in 1948. It lost its identity in 1966 when it merged with the adjoining Highlands Hospital.

War Memorial, Chase Side, Enfield
A former Voluntary hospital. Opened in 1875 as the Enfield Cottage Hospital, the building was extended in 1887. An operating theatre and a new ward were added in 1897/8, followed by a children's ward in 1906. It was re-named as the War Memorial Hospital in 1920. A new wing was completed in 1926. The building was closed and sold for redevelopment in 19084.

Other Hospitals
These hospitals either lie just outside the Enfield boundary or have taken significant numbers of Enfield patients.

Claybury, Woodford Bridge
A Large Victorian mental hospital. The site was acquired by Middlesex in 1887 but transferred to London County Council in 1889. It opened in 1893.

Friern, Friern Barnet Road N11
Built by Middlesex in 1851 as the Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum. Control passed to the London County Council in 1889. Re-named Friern Hospital in 1937.

Prince of Wales, Tottenham Green East, N15
A former Voluntary hospital. It opened in 1867 in a converted cottage. It later moved to Avenue House, Tottenham Green. It was rebuilt in 1887 and extended in 1904/7. An outpatients wing was added in 1932. It was largely closed in 1983.

St Ann's, St Ann's Road N15
Built in 1892 by the Metropolitan Asylums Board as the North Eastern Fever Hospital. It became a general hospital in 1948 after the N.H.S.took over.

Wood Green & Southgate, Bounds Green Road N11
A former Voluntary hospital. Built in 1895 with financial support from the Passmore Edwards Foundation. It was enlarged in 1904. Closed 1983.

© Graham Dalling 2006

This document was last updated on 2005-12-30 14:09:44 published by the Libraries team. Document Reference:LBE_112647