Royal Cornwall Infirmary

The Royal Cornwall Infirmary was designed by William Wood,^[1] and paid for by public subscription.^[1] It had just 20 beds when it opened on 12 August 1799.^[2][1] It was the first of its kind in Cornwall and was designed to service the mining community.^[3]

During the First World War it provided 50 beds to the War Office for serious medical cases from the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry.^[1] After expanding to provide 180 beds in 1939,^[4] it was badly damaged by 500 kg bombs and by machine gun fire on 6 August 1942 during the Second World War.^[2][5] It joined the National Health Service in 1947.^[1]

Services were transferred from the Infirmary to the Royal Cornwall Hospital at Treliske in the mid-1990s. The infirmary closed down in 1999, and has since been redeveloped with housing.^[1]