St Thomas’ Hospital

St Thomas' Hospital, named after St Thomas Becket, dates back to at least 1215. Likely founded after Becket's canonization in 1173, it was initially located at St Mary Overie Priory before moving to Trenet Lane and St Thomas Street. The hospital, run by Augustinian canons and canonesses, offered care for the poor, sick, and homeless. In the 15th century, Richard Whittington endowed a ward for unmarried mothers. Dissolved in 1539 during the Reformation, it reopened in 1551 and rededicated to Thomas the Apostle through the City of London efforts.

Between the hospital's foundation and the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, around twenty-four priors, masters, wardens, or rectors served the institution.

The hospital produced one of the first printed English Bibles in 1537, commemorated by a plaque on Borough High Street; around twenty-four priors served from its foundation to the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539. Dr. Eleazar Hodson was its first notable physician, having studied in Padua. In the late 17th century, Sir Robert Clayton, with architect Thomas Cartwright, essentially rebuilt the hospital and church. Sir Thomas Guy later founded Guy's Hospital in 1721 to treat 'incurables' from St Thomas'.

The old hospital's remnants on St Thomas Street include the Old Operating Theatre Museum. In 1862, it relocated to Lambeth, its current site, due to the Charing Cross railway viaduct construction. The new buildings, designed by Henry Currey, adopted the "pavilion principle" for better ventilation and patient segregation, promoted by Florence Nightingale.

An urban legend claims deaths in the Palace of Westminster are recorded at St Thomas' to avoid state funerals; however, this is false. During WWI, it became the 5th London General Hospital for military casualties. Post-WWII, it underwent significant reconstruction. 1949, Harold Ridley performed the first intraocular lens implantation at St Thomas'.

The Dreadnought Unit at St Thomas' now provides priority medical treatment for seamen. After merging with Guy's Hospital in 1993, emergency services were consolidated at St Thomas'. The hospital witnessed the death of former Prime Minister Harold Wilson in 1995 and saw advancements in cardiothoracic surgery recovery. In 2005, new facilities for Evelina London Children's Hospital opened at the site.