Plymouth General Hospital

The hospital has it origins in the Dock and Stonehouse Public Dispensary established in Chapel Street, Devonport in 1815.[1] This facility became too small and a new hospital was sponsored by Dr Thomas Woolcombe in the 1850s.[1]

The foundation stone for the new hospital was laid by the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe in June 1862.[1] It was designed by Alfred Norman in the Italianate style and built by Messrs Jenkin and Hallett on New Passage Hill.[2] It was named after Prince Albert, the late consort to Queen Victoria, and opened as the Royal Albert Hospital in December 1863.[2] The hospital became the Royal Albert Hospital and Eye Infirmary in 1874 and, after a new nurses' home was completed in May 1901,[1] it became the Prince of Wales Hospital in 1934.[2] On joining the National Health Service in 1948, it became the South Devon and East Cornwall Hospital (Devonport).[2] It finally became Plymouth General Hospital in 1963.[2]

After services transferred to the Derriford Hospital, the old hospital closed in 1981[1] and it was demolished in 1983.[3]