大象传媒

The world famous Papworth Hospital began life as the Cambridgeshire Tuberculosis Colony providing care for discharged soldiers.

Throughout World War One, tuberculosis (TB) was the leading cause of discharge for disability, accounting for 13.5 per cent of all discharges. Cambridgeshire had its own TB officer; Dr Pendrill Charles Varrier Jones, who in 1916 rented a house in Bourne to treat nine patients. He built huts in the garden in which patients lived with the intention for them to have fresh air, good food and light work.

In 1917, Varrier Jones purchased the Papworth Estate to continue his vision of a treatment centre and to create a whole community; the aim was to rehabilitate sufferers by providing treatment and then offering appropriate work and housing. It started with pigs, hens and fruit trees to grow into a village industry and village settlement.

Many descendants still live in the village today and the Papworth Hospital continues to lead the world in heart and lung treatment.

Location: Papworth Hospital, Cambridge CB23 3RE
Photograph courtesy of Becky Proctor at Papworth Hospital

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