On the Hampstead Road there was once a temporary garden marking the National Temperance Hospital (NTH).
Behind the NTH was St James’ Gardens, a hidden green space and a former burial ground of the parish of St James Piccadilly. With the ongoing HS2 project, both gardens and most of the hospital’s site no longer exist.
Formerly established as the London Temperance Hospital in Gower Street in 1873, the hospital moved to Hampstead Road six years later, gradually extending and eventually annexing in 1945 the St Pancras Female Orphanage and Charity School.
Throughout history, alcohol has not only jokingly been referred to as medicinal, but used for treating a wide variety of ailments.
During the 1800s, the increased practice of attributing health benefits to alcoholic drinks led the National Temperance League, a group of reformers concerned with the effects of alcohol consumption in society, to establish the Temperance Hospital.
The Temperance Hospital was unusual in providing alcohol-free medical treatment apart from in exceptional cases, claiming that this approach improved staff efficiency, helped patient recovery times and reduced costs.
Supporters of the NTH included Henry Croft, the original Pearly King, the Cadbury family and other Temperance-endorsing organisations such as the British Women’s Temperance Association.
Funds raised helped to run and extend the hospital. Time capsules buried beneath the hospital’s 1879 and 1884 foundation stones were found to contain contemporary newspapers and Temperance Movement literature.
In 1931 the Art Deco-style Insull Memorial wing, funded by British-American temperance advocate and Chicago magnate Samuel Insull was built.
Elements of Insull’s life are said to have been incorporated into Citizen Kane, “the greatest film ever made” which reflects on the life and legacy of a wealthy tycoon.
From 1948, the Temperance Hospital was incorporated into the NHS, housing a variety of different departments, including providing medical treatment and therapy to victims of torture (a pioneering scheme run by charity Freedom from Torture, originating from Amnesty International’s Medical Group).
Eventually, in 1990, the National Temperance Hospital closed, although some buildings continued to be used for office space and clinics.
While being considered for the possible home of what became the Crick Institute, the buildings sat derelict before being demolished as part of the HS2 project.
The NTH’s annex, St Pancras Female Orphanage and Charity School became the home of the Margarete Centre providing substance abuse support, a solitary reminder of the former Temperance hospital.
Heading south down Gower Street, around the corner of UCL’s Grant Museum of Zoology at 129 Gower Street, a blue plaque marks a former residence of one of the Temperance Hospital’s founders.
Active in the Temperance Movement, Victor Horsley was vice-president of the National Temperance League, which founded the London Temperance Hospital, eloquently highlighting the dangers of alcohol in both over-consumption and in medical treatments.
Horsley trained at University College Hospital and in 1886 was the first neurosurgeon appointed to a hospital position at the National Hospital for the Paralysed and Epileptic in Queen Square.
He pioneered neurosurgery for a variety of conditions including epilepsy, spinal injury and tumours, devising novel surgical techniques.
Although known as the ‘Father of Neurosurgery’, he also developed the understanding of thyroid disease, vaccines and military medicine.
Horsley led the eradication of rabies in Britain in 1902, advocating muzzling and strict quarantine measures for dogs brought into the country.
A powerful and passionate debater, Horsley supported female suffrage and health care of the working class.
Contrary to many in the medical profession at the time, he supported Lloyd George’s health insurance reforms, one of the foundations of the modern welfare state.
In the First World War though, aged 57, Horsley volunteered for active service.
After serving as a surgeon in France and Egypt, he died in 1916 at a military hospital at Amara, near Baghdad, Iraq.
Enjoyed this taster of my Hidden Health Heroes tour? Then join me for the rest of the walk!
I’m fundraising for Coram (coram.org.uk/about-us/coram-today) with a series of guided walks.
- Contact Louise Choo (walk.deliberately@gmail.com) from Camden Guides for booking details of her Hidden Health Heroes walking tour and other guided walks.
