LATEST FEATURE FROM ENJOY BRENTWOOD MORE! LOVING CARE IN LOCKDOWN LIMBO

We may only be 140 days into 'lockdown limbo', but we thank Archant's Adriana Elgueta for keeping readers up to date with local matters in her Enjoy Brentwood More website.

The annals of Borough of Brentwood have many fascinating tales to tell, many of them from times' past, and it is a fact that we can learn so much from local writers. Contact our local library and the Brentwood Museum in Lorne Road.

Brentwood was originally built on a hill and this is probably the reason why the town has attracted so many hospitals, residential schools and orphanages to this green area (just 20 miles from London) over the last 150 years.

Can it only be a few months since the local press highlighted the decision to expand Brentwood Community Hospital to help accommodate the increasing numbers of coronavirus patients. Work on the isolation areas was carried out with help of many including the superb Fire and Rescue Service and the Army. 

New patients and older Brentwood residents have expressed their appreciation for the modern Brentwood Community Hospital opened in 2008, built on the site of the former hospital known as the "Brentwood District". This earlier building was opened in 1934 and that, too, has an interesting history.

The late Brian Lynch was a local journalist who wrote the book “The Finished Stairway” on the 50th anniversary of the building of the Brentwood District Hospital. He outlined the story of the original hospital, which opened its doors in the summer of 1934. Its cost – £40,000 was met by the people of Brentwood. It was a wonderful achievement as the building was opened absolutely free of debt, remarkable in that Depression era of the thirties, when so many people were out of work.

Fundraising is part of our lives now, but in 1931 – when the idea was first mooted - the cost of building a modern hospital was an impossible dream for such a small community. What happened next was an amazing feat. From a population of just 5,000 residents, rich and poor, working, middle and upper classes all came together to raise the money needed to build and equip this much needed hospital.

The 20-acre piece of land was generously donated by a local resident, Percy Bayman. The elected chairman of the Brentwood Hospital Governors, Frederick “Limelight” Jackson, was a successful businessman. His nickname derived from his ebullient character, but his passion for ‘getting things done’ was appreciated and vital to this communal project.

He launched the Brentwood Hospital fundraising campaign in January 1931 and the foundation stone ceremony was performed by the then Princess Royal, daughter of King George V in May that year. Every penny was needed for the fundraising bucket, Carnivals, coffee-mornings, raffles, school bazaars, church collections and contributions from anyone who had small change, was collected for the hospital fund.

The building work was undertaken by sixty local workmen who had been previously unemployed. On 14 June 1934, Frederick Jackson wrote: “The interest taken by everyone in the district has been wonderful and I anticipate that it will continue thus providing for upkeep and maintenance in which we shall require your further help.”

When the hospital was finished, the whole of Brentwood turned out to welcome Princess Helena Victoria, grand-daughter of Queen Victoria, who took a key from Geoffrey Bayman, grandson of the great benefactor and turned it to open the doors of the new hospital which remained the pride of Brentwood for more than seventy years. 

Further historical information can be found on page 81 of my latest book BRENTWOOD IN 50 BUILDINGS published by Amberley Books of Stroud available at WH Smith Ltd and Waterstones in Brentwood. Also via Amazon.