A brief history of Whipps Cross Hospital

by Alan Simpson

In 1834, the Poor Law Amendment Act had been passed and parishes had formed 'Unions' to erect and administer workhouses and infirmaries for the chronic sick, the homeless and the destitute. West Ham Poor Law Union was formed in 1836. Its operation was overseen by an elected Board of Guardians, 24 in number, representing its constituent parishes 6 . The West Ham Union workhouse was located in Leytonstone at Holloway Down on land that had originally been part of the Stratford Langthorne Abbey estate 7 .

In 1889, the Board of Guardians made plans to purchase Forest House and its 44 acres of grounds from the Bosanquet family. The Guardians’ intention was to use the building as a Poor Law school, but consent to a loan for this purpose was refused by the Local Government Board 8 unless a comprehensive system of drainage was installed.

6  These were initially seven: East Ham; West Ham; Little Ilford; Low Leyton; Walthamstow; Wanstead; and Woodford. The parish of Cann Hall was added in 1894.

7  The workhouse opened in 1842. Designed by Alfred Richard Mason, its three-storey T-shaped main block had lower wings to the rear, creating two courtyards for the male and female inmates. The ground floor of the building contained offices, a surgery and wards for infirm inmates. On the first floor were quarters for the Master and the Matron, and dormitories for the inmates. Lying-in wards were on the second floor. The rear wing contained a dining-room and storerooms, with a kitchen in the basement. The building was enlarged and upgraded several times throughout its life. In 1930, control of the workhouse passed to the West Ham Borough Council, which renamed it the Central Home Public Assistance Institution – a home for the chronically ill, aged and infirm. The Home joined the NHS in 1948 and was renamed Langthorne Hospital, specialising in geriatric care before finally closing in 1999. The Grade II listed buildings remain standing today and the rest of the site is partly residential and partly the public Langthorne Park.

Essex Newsman, 16 July 1889 :

FOREST HOUSE. – At a meeting of the West Ham Board of Guardians, on the 11th inst., a letter was read from the Local Government Board declining to authorise the utilisation of Forest House – formerly the residence of Mr. W. Fowler, late M.P. for Cambridge – near Whipp’s-cross, Leyton, for union school purposes, the authorities considering it unadapted for schools. The Board of Guardians is said to be definitely committed to the purchase of the house, and unless the decision of the higher board can be altered, there is the prospect of an expenditure of £100,000 on new buildings of one description or another for the purposes of the union.

8  The Local Government Board was a Government body overseeing local administration in England and Wales from 1871–1919. It took over the public health and local government responsibilities of the Home Secretary, the Privy Council and all the functions of the Poor Law Board.

Leyton & Leytonstone

Historical Society