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You are here: Home / Glossary

Glossary

Hospital

A place designed for cared for the sick. The earliest in the northeast were purpose-built hospitals in the Roman period placed in the military forts, such as those along Hadrian's Wall. These were organised around a central courtyard with the separate wards leading off from it. Monasteries took over the role of caring for the sick in the Medieval period - as such these were often served by monks and nuns. These complexes had their chapels and accommodation. Specialist hospitals were built on the edges of towns for lepers - though anyone uncared for and unable to look after themselves might have been looked after at such places. Post-Medieval 'improvements' further increased the range of specialist hospitals - dealing with the mentally ill at a distance to towns, thought best at the time, or out in the countryside to provide fresh air away from the smoky Industrial Revolution towns.

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