The article from The Building News continued: 'In his later buildings Mr Pick has provided an open fire at the end of each ward in a partly enclosed dayroom they were appreciated for the appearance of comfort, and afforded also for the nurses some means of warming their hands previous to changing dressings.'

At its centre was an operating theatre as well as a kitchen block and quarters for the nurses who were caring for the sick and wounded. The equipment at the hospital was cutting edge for the time and included X-ray machines and the latest medicines.įour blocks of wards were constructed to make up the Welsh Hospital, each with two rows of beds. It was originally meant to be a temporary hospital which could be dismantled and relocated to the front in France.

The founder of modern nursing took issue with the long corridor running the length of the building, which she said would stop the proper ventilation of the wards and keep natural sunlight out.Ī nurse and patients outside one of the huts (Image: Julie Green) The hospital, which was a quarter of a mile long and took 30m bricks to build over seven years, was located where it could be easily accessed by hospital ships returning with casualties during the wars of the late 19th and early to mid-20th centuries.Īlthough it was hailed as a great success at the time it was built Florence Nightingale was a notable critic of the design of the hospital. The 'Welsh hospital', as it became know, formed part of the first purpose-built military hospital commissioned by Queen Victoria in 1855 – a place where the lives of countless soldiers were saved over the course of a century.Ĭonstruction of the Royal Victoria Military Hospital at Netley, on the outskirts of Southampton, began in 1856 in response to the increased demand for a dedicated military hospital as the Crimean War raged between 18.

The generosity of people from across Wales saw huge sums of money raised and beds named after towns which had contributed as thousands of soldiers wounded on the frontline during the Great War underwent their recoveries. It may have been nestled on the south coast of England but the so-called 'Welsh hospital' was responsible for treating thousands of soldiers wounded in World War One.

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