The appeal for a Peace Memorial Hospital combined the need for a new hospital with the desire to construct a memorial to honour the 700 men from the local area who died in World War I. As the Watford Observer explained, ‘The hospital will be a living memorial of the dead, and by its nature more endurable than any monuments of stone or brass’.

Between 1918 and 1925, the Watford community raised £90,000 to build the Peace Memorial Hospital.

The foundation stone was laid on July 25, 1923, by the Countess of Clarendon. The Treasurer of the Appeal said it was not uncommon to see people bent double in pain at Watford Junction waiting for a train to take them to London. Rich or poor, if you required urgent surgery in Watford, you had to take the train or ambulance to London – with the risk of not finding a bed when you got there. The new hospital would help to prevent such problems.

The Countess was presented with a time capsule containing, among other things, a copy of the Watford Observer and a brief history of the hospital. When the restoration work started on the hospice in the 1990s, builders couldn’t retrieve the time capsule without demolishing the whole front of the building, so it remains there to this day.

The Watford Observer stated that, ‘Watford has truly surpassed itself. Never in the town’s history has there been such a united and successful communal endeavour’.

The new hospital occupied a prominent position alongside the Town Hall and was further enhanced in 1928 by a war memorial designed by local resident Mary Bromet, featuring three bronze statues.

Despite the fight to get the hospital built, between 1965 and 1985 services provided by the Peace Memorial Hospital were gradually transferred to Shrodells (now Watford General) in Vicarage Road.

The doors of the Peace Memorial closed in May, 1985. The side wings and outer buildings were demolished, leaving only the original administration building intact.

In the early 1900s, there was public outcry about the state of the hospital. The South West Hertfordshire Hospice Charity launched an appeal to raise funds for a new hospice.

The Watford Observer stepped in to help, giving the campaign much needed publicity. They bemoaned the fact that, ‘For more than five years this site has been deserted and has been slowly going to rack and ruin. It seems very wrong that the building, paid for by the people of Watford, should be used for anything but a public service’.

Every week the Observer published a list of contributions to the appeal fund. There were toy sales, raffles, dinners, dances, auctions, concerts, fetes and all manner of sponsored events. But a decision still had to be made about what was to be done with the site.

Local people were concerned that members of the Health Authority (none of whom lived in Watford) failed to understand the significance of the building and the depth of local feeling.

In January, 1992, Watford Borough Council leader Mike Jackson delivered a petition signed by 17,500 residents to the Health Authority. By April the appeal had raised £112,000.

In November, 1992, the Health Authority agreed to the redevelopment of the hospital as a hospice. The Watford Observer proclaimed, ‘After seven years of uncertainty and deliberation the Peace Memorial will be used for health purposes as was always intended’.

The news provided a new focus for the appeal fund. In 18 months, a total of £250,000 was raised and in May, 1993, planning permission was granted for a temporary day care centre alongside the hospital. This was the first stage in the redevelopment of the hospital.

The hospice was finally opened in 1996 by Princess Michael of Kent.

In 2016, Peace Hospice Care is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a heritage exhibition at Watford Museum from September 29 to October 29. The exhibition will explore the history of the hospital through the memories of local people.

On September 10, Peace Hospice Care will also be holding an open day, providing activities and information stalls.

For more information visit www.peacehospice.org.uk