A school will mark its transformation into a hospital during World War One with a pupil-led exhibition.
Stormont House School, a special needs facility based in Hackney Downs, which was turned into an auxiliary hospital in January 1916, will allow students to research the archives and plan the future event.
Laura Ford, who is leading the Fifth Word Theatre project, told the Hackney Post: “The goal is to uncover the history of the hospital. They’ll be looking at the stories of the people that worked there, and of the patients”
Stormont House School (Image: Hackney Council)
An Australian patient’s letter that was discovered reads: “Everything has an uplifting effect after the inevitable lowering effects of the trenches. The daintiness with which the meals are served and set out, the attention to the individual comfort of each patient, all these bring out the best in every man, and one and all act as gentlemen.”
Stormont House Hospital was officially opened on 29 January 1916 by the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Charles Wakefield. There were 42 beds and each was named after a road, church, school or factory.
It was open for 39 months, during which 1,192 patients were admitted, and none died.
Top image: Hackney Archives
