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The History of the Two Hospitals

Written by Communications Team

Exhibition traces history of St Peter’s Hospital

An exhibition “From Manor House to Medicine” chronicling the history of St. Peter’s Hospital and its surrounding grounds will be on show at Chertsey Museum for the next 12 months.

Museum Curator Emma Warren said: “We have many artefacts on display including early NHS medical equipment; a nurse’s red-lined navy cloak and an early examination couch. Storyboards chart the history from a stately home to a state-of-the-art medical facility.”

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Ashford site	Date	St. Peter’s site
	666	Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter (Chertsey Abbey) established reputedly by Erithwald Earldoman of Surrey ¹
	9^th c.	Abbey destroyed by the Danes ¹
	Early 12^th c.	Abbey rebuilt and flourished known for its production of encaustic tiles Chertsey ¹ (see Chertsey Museum)
	1319	BOTLEYS PARK MANSION occupied by John de Bottele (or Butteley) known as Botlese in the early 16^th c. St. Peter’s Hospital now stands on N.E. corner of Botleys Park estate. Ownership of the estate went through a long line of people including Sir Roger Cholmeley, Knight and Chief Baron of the Exchequer who sold it to King Henry VIII. The Duchess of Somerset (widow of the Protector of King Edward VI) had a lease on it. A Mrs. Pleasance sold it to Sir Joseph Mawbey. Sir Joseph Mawbey married Elizabeth Pratt , heiress of Richard Pratt ⁵
	1538	Abbey once again destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries ¹
	1760	BOTLEYS PARK ESTATE bought by Joseph Mawbey who married Elizabeth Pratt in 1760 – he pulled down Botleys Mansion and rebuilt a new Mansion to the design of Kent Couse, architect, who was involved in the design for Richmond Bridge, and possibly the Tower of St. Margarets, Westminster. Couse also re-designed the front door of No. 10 Downing Street. ⁵
	1817	BOTLEYS PARK passed to Sir Joseph Mawbey’s two granddaughters one of whom married John Ivett Briscoe of Foxhills. The Briscoe’s continued to live at Foxhills and in 1822 they sold Botleys to David Hall, Feltmaker. Eventually Botleys passed to the Gosling family who were bankers. Three generations of the Gosling family lived at Botleys until 1927. ⁵
	1818-1825	SILVERLANDS – The building of Silverlands – it is not certain when Silverlands was first constructed but it is deduced that the building took place between these dates and the first owner was Vice-Admiral the Rt. Hon Sir Frederick Hotham. Silverlands was used as a home by the Hotham family until approximately 1887
Board of Guardians of Staines Poor Law Union established the Staines Union Workhouse on land adjoining Town Land at Ashford (in Stanwell parish) Workhouse laundry was opposite the above site which laundry remained in use until the mid-1970s Workhouse Infirmary established on left of the driveway at the main entrance (later used as the School of Nursing) which was demolished in 1995.	1840
	1887-1905	SILVERLANDS passed to Sir Frederick Alers Hankey MP MA JP
	1905-1907	SILVERLANDS passed to Philip Waterlow
	1908-1919	SILVERLANDS passed to Rt. Hon. Sir John Tomlinson Brunner Bt.MP then see Silverlands booklet in file.² file ref: Arch.3
	1908	St. Nicholas & St. Martin’s Orthopaedic Hospital Pyrford for crippled girls (see Rowley Bristow file) ³ and ¹ Subsequently renamed Rowley Bristow Orthopaedic Hospital (see 1939-45 below)
Staines Union Isolation Hospital opened at Long Lane end of the site: later known as Holloway Unit	1912
Staines Boys Home built in grounds of hospital. Later used as Nurses Home ⁸	1913
May 1914 Staines Cottage Hospital opened in Kingston Road ⁹	1914
	1929	BOTLEYS PARK ESTATE purchased by Surrey County Council from the Gosling family. For the purpose of care, treatment and remedial training of backward children and adults. A new wing was added to the mansion and the villas were built in the grounds to house the patients. ⁴
Workhouses became the responsibility of Local Authorities. S.U.W. taken over by Middlesex County Council and renamed Staines Institute	1930
2 Sept 1939: Staines Emergency Hospital formed from the old Staines Institute plus 10 new huts built for expected military casualties from France. Staffed with doctors and nurses from the West Middx. Hospital ⁶	1939	A medical centre including twenty-one Villas was established for the care and treatment of mental patients known as Botleys Park Colony for Mental Defectives ¹ Botleys Park site: 24^th June 1939
May 1940: First Dunkirk casualties. Aug 1940: First air raids and hospital bombed (last bombing 17 May 1944) ¹³	1939-1945	BOTLEYS PARK site was used as a hospital for the treatment of Dunkirk casualties. During this time consultants and nurses were seconded from St Thomas’s and St. George’s Hospitals London. Consultants and nurses were recalled to their London hospitals after the war. During the hostilities the Orthopaedic Dept. of St. Thomas’s London was bombed and work was transferred to the Pyrford site and Rowley Bristow.
4^th October 1941 Female Nurses training School opened Dec. 1941 – Hospital known as Staines County Hospital ¹³ D Block and main kitchen completed.	1941
June 1945 Hospital renamed Ashford County Hospital ¹³	1945
By 1947 the Hospital was serving Staines, Ashford and Stanwell	1947	General Nursing Council gave authority for the formation of the St. Peter’s Training School for Nurses. This was opened in March of that year with three Student Nurses at Silverlands. In this year St. Peter’s became a general hospital serving Chertsey, Bagshot, Walton-on-Thames and Woking and the name was officially changed to St. Peter’s. This name was taken from the mother church of St. Peter’s Chertsey.
5 July 1948 National Health Service established. Hospital renamed Ashford (General) Hospital ⁸	1948	National Health Service established.
	1952	May 1952 League of Friends inaugurated.
MacWilliam House (nurses’ home) opened ⁶	1956
	1962	Accident Centre established (prototype for rest of the country)
Old Workhouse demolished ⁶	1963
	1965	Post Graduate Education Centre. 1967 – 26 September -The New Operating Theatres opened by HRH Duchess of Kent.
Accident and Emergency and Outpatients Departments opened	1966
Ashford Hospital Hostesses established (known as Shrimps – because of their pink uniforms) ^{10, 11} – later became Ashford League of Friends	1966
New Physiotherapy Unit opened in July. ⁶	1967
Maternity Unit opened (31 May) ⁸ with 92 beds and 18 intensive care cots	1968
	1970	Maternity Unit opened. First arrivals were twin boys to whom silver mugs were presented. 1991 – 21^st birthday of Unit celebrated at which twins and parents were present
Autumn - £1.75 million development began	1972
Clinical Block opened	1974
By the 1980s Ashford was a District general Hospital with 770 beds ⁷. The old Staines Isolation Hospital became psycho-geriatric Unit (Holloway Unit) with patients transferred from Holloway Sanatorium ⁷	1980
	1981	New Departmental Block opened by Sir Geoffrey Pattie MP for Chertsey
Staines Cottage Hospital demolished	1986
	1988	Abraham Cowley Unit opened
	1989	April 1989 – New Friends Café opened
1990s Hospital Chapel and Sports & Social Club demolished for re-building of Hospital. Proceeds of land sold to Tesco used to build new Ward Blocks, A & E Dept., kitchens, education centre and Management Offices	1990	Early 1990’s Rowley Bristow Trauma and Orthopaedic Clinic moved to St. Peter’s Hospital from Pyrford
	1990	1st January 1990 Silverlands Nursing School amalgamated with other Schools of Nursing in Surrey and Hampshire to become Francis Harrison College of Nursing and Midwifery.
	1991	Blanche Heriot Unit for Genito and Urinary Medicine opened (named after the curfew bell)
	1991	21^st birthday of Maternity Unit
1st April 1992 the new Ashford Hospital became NHS Trust headed by a Management Board	1992	1^st April 1992 St. Peter’s Hospital became NHS Trust headed by a Management Board. ¹
	1992	Duchess of Kent Wing New ward block
New A & E dept. opened. Old Infirmary demolished (Jan) to accommodate new Hospital roadway	1994
New Ashford Hospital operational (Sept.)	1995
	1998	Prince Edward Wing Accident Centre Rowley Bristow Centre Intensive Care Unit
St. Peter’s and Ashford hospitals merge to become one NHS Trust	1998	St. Peter’s and Ashford hospitals merge to become one NHS Trust
Millennium	2000	Millennium
New mosaics made at Ashford Hospital entrance	2001
Quadrangle garden opened with restored 1902 window.	2002
Agenda for Change – Reconfiguration of Services – 1st February 2006 From 8th March – National No Smoking Day – St Peter’s and Ashford Hospital Trust becomes “ Smoke Free” in line with Government’s plan for all public organisations to be completely smoke-free by end of 2006	2006	Agenda for Change – Reconfiguration of Services – 1st February 2006 From 8th March – National No Smoking Day – St Peter’s and Ashford Hospital Trust becomes “Smoke Free” in line with Government’s plan for all public organisations to be completely smoke-free by end of 2006.