Nottingham General Hospital was founded as a charitable institution by public subscription in 1782. 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 new wing, located on the Park Row frontage (1879) and the five storey circular building, the Jubilee Wing (opened 1900). 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. Temporary buildings were erected during the First World War to accommodate sick and wounded soldiers. Further extensions were built including the Ropewalk Wing (1929), the Player Wing (1932) and the Castle Ward (1943). Developments after 1948 included the opening of an Intensive Care Unit in 1963 and of the Trent Wing in 1972. Following the opening of the University Hospital, the Queen's Medical Centre, in 1977, many services were transferred there from the General. The General Hospital finally closed in 1992, and the site was redeveloped to provide apartments and leisure facilities.
This booklet was created by Paul Swift, a local historian and author of a number of books about Nottingham hospitals. The images in the booklet were taken from photographs at the hospital before it closed, with the permission of the owners. The images were transferred to CD and edited between 2005 and 2007 and the booklet was printed in 2007.
