English hospitals 1660-1948 - Harriet Richardson

From vast asylums to cottage hospitals, this book offers a broad perspective on almost three centuries of hospital architecture and design. Many hosptial buildings are important works of architecture; they also reflect the prevailing attitudes to illness and social welfare at the time of their construction. Since 1948, when the National Health Service inherited all existing hospital buildings, modernization and centralization has brought about the closure or demolition of many of these buildings.;In response to these developments, this book examines hospital buildings constructed between 1660 and 1948, analyzing the changing ideas and institutions that created them, as well as their structure, layout and design. The book draws together the results of a detailed survey of hospital architecture by the RCHME. Illustrated with plans and contemporary pictures, this study should be of interest not only to architectural and social historians, but also to anyone concerned with the delivery of health care.