Inventory Site Record

Ravenscourt Park Hospital was designed by architects Sir John Burnet, Tait and Lorne as the Royal Masonic Hospital, a new hospital for the Freemasons. It later became a private hospital, was leased to the NHS in 2002 but has been closed since 2006. The original hospital buildings and gardens were laid out with fine Art Deco detailing, the landscaping in front of the main entrance integral with the design of the boundary wall and entrance. To the south and overlooked on 3 sides, the garden was laid out with lawns, planted with numerous shrubs, conifers and flower beds, with a central elongated rectangular water feature with fountains and lilies.

Previous / Other name:

Royal Masonic Hospital; The Stamford Hospital

Site location:

Ravenscourt Park

Postcode:

W6 0TN

What 3 Words:

mats.damp.river

Type of site:

Institutional Grounds

Borough:

Hammersmith & Fulham

Open to public?

No

Opening times:

private, but front garden previously unrestricted, access to rear garden only by arrangement
Took part in Open Garden Squares Weekend in 2006.

Special conditions:

Facilities:

Events:

Public transport:

Tube: Stamford Brook/Ravenscourt Park (District); Bus: 27, 190, 267, 391

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Google Map    
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Research updated:

01/04/2006

Last minor changes:

19/07/2023

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news.

From the early 1900s, there were plans to relocate the existing Freemasons' Hospital in Fulham Road, Chelsea to Ravenscourt Park but this did not take place until 1932/3. The hospital site, adjacent to the west boundary of Ravenscourt Park (q.v.), was formerly that of a substantial house built when development of the Ravenscourt estate was taking place. The hospital's foundation stone was laid in the presence of four members of the royal family 'by electrical connection' from Olympia. The Wakefield Wing was added in 1958 but the 1930sre-brick Art Deco buildings are largely intact. The hospital was later taken over as The Stamford Hospital, and then became the independent Ravenscourt Park Hospital. In 2002 it was leased to Hammersmith NHS Trust as a means of cutting waiting times, but then closed in 2006 due to a drop in demand and rising costs.

The front landscaping has cast concrete raised beds, a wall with a seat, and low edging walls to the beds. Further planting of shrubs is found around the hospital buildings, also edged by low brick walls. At the south of the main building, the 1930s garden has fine mature trees, dense shrubs and the water feature overlooked by hospital rooms with semi-circular balconies.

Sources consulted:

I F Trinder 'A History of the Royal Masonic Hospital' (H L Trinder Colchester 1992); Bridget Cherry and Nikolaus Pevsner, 'The Buildings of England London 3: North West' (Penguin, 1999 ed) p212; Rosamund Vercoe 'Ravenscourt' (Fulham and Hammersmith Historical Society, 1991); LB Hammersmith & Fulham 'Ravenscourt & Starch Green Conservation Area Character Profile', 1999

Grid ref:

TQ222789 (522180,178960)

Size in hectares:

Site ownership:

Ravenscourt Park Hospital, to be checked

Site management:

Date(s):

1931-33

Designer(s):

Sir John Burnet, Tait and Lorne

Listed structures:

LBII: Main building of hospital; boundary wall east of hospital; pair of flower boxes in forecourt; Nurses Home

On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens:

No

Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965:

No

Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931:

No

Local Authority Data

The information below is taken from the relevant Local Authority's planning legislation, which was correct at the time of research but may have been amended in the interim. Please check with the Local Authority for latest planning information.

On Local List:

No

In Conservation Area:

Yes

Conservation Area name:

Ravenscourt and Starch Green

Tree Preservation Order:

Yes - see note below

Nature Conservation Area:

No

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

No

Special Policy Area:

No

Other LA designation:

TPO 52/5/74 Robinia, Mulberry, Cherry (4), Horse chestnut (3), Sycamore (2) Sorbus , Holly (2), Quince

Photo: Sarah Jackson

Click a photo to enlarge.