NHS 70th – St Mary’s Hospital

St Mary’s Hospital stood off Church Street in the Old Town of Eastbourne, on the site of a Napoleonic Cavalry Barracks.

It was the Union Workhouse from 1834 until 1919. It was the Poor Law Infirmary of the Eastbourne Union until April 1st 1930 when it was transferred to Eastbourne Borough Council, later becoming St Mary’s Hospital. The Head Nurse at the hospital between 1924 -1948 was Miss Mary Letheren and when the hospital was demolished in 1990, the new road on the former hospital site was named after her. On the side of the building on the corner of the main road, is the location of the Blue Plaque dedicated to former soldiers, inmates, patients and staff of St Mary’s hospital and barracks.

St Mary's Hospital photos