Memories of Hill House Hospital

There is a small display in the Warwick Visitor Information Centre with documents from the Hill House temporary hospital which treated WWI local soldiers who had been returned from the Western Front with serious injuries or shell-shock.

The documents have been unearthed by Unlocking Warwick volunteer Barbara Wigmore who has been researching the role of women in Warwick during the First World War, to mark the centenary year of the Armistice.

By the end of 1914 casualties were arriving daily at Warwick Station. The local hospitals couldn’t cope. Warwickshire began the war with just 180 beds across the county; there were soon to be more than 2,000. Large houses were taken over by the Red Cross, including Guy’s Cliffe House and Hill House overlooking the racecourse. Hundreds of woman volunteered as nurses.

The documents have lists of doctors, nurses and other staff. Perhaps one of your relatives worked there. Pop into the Visitor Centre in the Jury Street Court House and have a look.