Cambridge Military Hospital

The first military hospital in Aldershot was a wooden hutted structure, near the garrison church. It was established for lunatics and infectious diseases as well as providing some family accommodation. It was converted in the 1860s from a workhouse, the Union Poor House, which had originally been a private residence. It was small, but for the time, well-equipped. Thirdly there was the Connaught Hospital at Marlborough Lines. It was later a dental facility before it closed on 29 September 1973. ==The new hospital==

The Cambridge Military Hospital, built by Messrs Martin Wells and Co. of Aldershot, was located at Stanhope Lines; It was named after Prince George, Duke of Cambridge and opened on 18 July 1879. The Louise Margaret Hospital for military wives and children was opened alongside in 1897. The hospital has been extended over the years. By 1893 two new angled pavilion wards were added at the ends of the main through corridor. Since 1931 many additions and alterations have been made, compromising the elegant initial design. The doctor and artist Henry Tonks worked for Harold Gillies producing pastel drawings recording facial injury cases at the Cambridge Military Hospital and the Queen's Hospital, Sidcup After the Second World War, with the decline in importance of Britain's military commitments, civilians were admitted to the hospital. It pioneered the supply of portable operating theatres and supplies for frontline duties. The hospital also contained the Army Chest Unit. The hospital was closed on 2 February 1996 due to the high cost of running the old building as well as the discovery of asbestos in the walls. The main building is grade II listed. Nearby at the top of Gun Hill is the RAMC Memorial which commemorates the 314 men of the Royal Army Medical Corps who lost their lives in the Boer War of 1899 to 1902. ==Gun Hill Park==

The Grade II listed former hospital building and the 12 acre complex of Victorian and Edwardian era support buildings around it is being redeveloped at a cost of £60 million for residential use by Weston Homes as Gun Hill Park, part of the newly created Wellesley Estate in Aldershot. Acquired by Weston Homes in May 2019, the main building of 1879 has been converted to include 74 apartments with large communal foyers and spaces in addition to a large penthouse incorporating the building's clock tower. Gun Hill Park incorporates a number of new-build houses with private gardens and set in landscaped grounds. In October 2021 a bronze bust of Florence Nightingale by Hampshire-based sculptor Amy Goodman was unveiled in front of the hospital building by Goodman and Bob Weston, CEO of Weston Homes. For the bust, Goodman was inspired by books about Nightingale's life and referred to photographs taken of her by William Edward Kilburn in about 1856 and that taken by Claudius Erskine Goodman in about 1858. The bust sits on a plinth of Portland stone, often used for memorials and commemorative sculpture. The inscription was hand-carved by the memorial artist Maya Martin. ==See also==