Clarence Memorial Wing, with Second World War memorial gates, at St Mary's Hospital

This is a hospital wing built between 1892 and 1904 to designs by Sir William Emerson, with Higgs and Hill as builders.

Materials and Construction

The street-facing elevations to the south, west and east are faced in ashlar stonework at basement and ground-floor levels. Above this, the walls are red brick with ashlar dressings including a deep modillion cornice, window architraves and quoins, punctuated by loggias. The roof is slate and features two rows of dormer windows on the front elevation. Tall brick chimney stacks rise from the building. The north elevation is faced in glazed brick up to and including second-floor level. Windows on the principal elevation are mainly timber sashes with multi-pane upper frames, though some replacement has occurred. To the rear, the original windows are mainly timber sashes.

Plan Form

The building is E-shaped in plan, comprising a long west-east range fronting Praed Street with wings projecting northwards at the west, east and centre. At basement level the spaces between the wings are filled to create a rectangle, with only the central wing projecting. The Clarence Memorial Wing connects with the New Medical School via a first-floor bridge at the eastern end of the building; this bridge is considered part of the New Medical School, which has not been assessed (2025). At ground-floor level, the north end of the eastern rear wing connects with the Cambridge Wing, and at basement level, the corridors of the Clarence Memorial Wing connect with those of the Cambridge, Albert Edward and Mary Stanford wings. Only the Clarence Memorial Wing, as defined by the map forming part of this list entry, is listed.

Exterior

This late-Victorian building displays an eclectic style combining Northern and Italian Renaissance motifs with English Baroque. There are four main storeys with basement, and two attic storeys.

On the principal south-facing elevation, the central five-bay entrance block projects forward as a Classical frontispiece. The three central bays break forward again, with the entrance approached by steps set in a rusticated doorcase with pulvinated capitals and a segmental pediment containing the royal arms. The double doors have a granite surround. At first and second floor are giant Ionic columns and piers, with arched openings in the outer bays and oriel balconettes at first-floor level. The entablature bears 'ST MARY'S HOSPITAL' inscribed in the frieze, with a balustraded parapet above. Above that, octagonal turrets flank a triangular-pedimented Dutch gable.

To either side, a six-bay balustraded loggia fronts the first and second floors, with an arcade of single arches at first-floor level and paired arches above. The console brackets supporting the first-floor balcony are enriched with the letter 'C' beneath a coronet. In the four-bay outer wings, the ground floor contains two oriel windows, each providing a balconet to a pair of first-floor windows. Below the eaves is a tripartite window. Above the modillion cornice, which continues across the whole frontage, each outer wing is crowned by a segmental-pedimented Dutch gable. The foundation stone is set at street level in the western outer wing.

An additional wing at the eastern end forms a canted projection to the south topped by an ogee roof, creating the impression of a corner turret. Here, a circular ceramic plaque commemorates Sir Alexander Fleming, indicating the location of the room above in which penicillin was discovered. A stone tablet on the south-east corner relates to the Second World War memorial gates attached to the east. The east elevation of this wing is distinguished by a complex recessed arched feature, springing from a ground-floor arcaded tripartite window and rising through the first and second storeys. It contains a pedimented tripartite window at first-floor level and, at second-floor level, a mullioned and transomed window beneath a keyed arch. This feature is reflected on the west elevation, where it contains a double-height canted oriel window. A doorway in the east elevation, now the Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum entrance, originally gave direct access to the Inoculation Department facilities.

The utilitarian north elevation has cambered-arched window openings of bull-nosed brick, many of the tall first- and second-floor windows having fixed sections above single-pane sash frames. The smaller windows above have two-over-two sash frames. The original part of the central rear wing is stepped, rising to second-floor level to the south and first-floor level to the north, with a central square bay projecting northwards to light the boardroom on the ground floor. Vertical extensions to this wing are excluded from the listing. The central wing has a canted bay window at basement level, surrounded by an area protected by iron railings. To the west of the central wing, the basement accommodation projects in an ashlar-faced block. A ventilation shaft rises against the main wing to the east.

Interior

The entrance hall, approached by steps, is lined with marble to dado height. Doorways and windows in this area are framed by arches with emphatic keystones. There is a deep cornice and elliptical ceiling moulding. To the north, a marble balustrade, broken by steps, defines the course of the west-east corridor running to the rear of the main wing. The eastern part of the balustrade has been removed for the insertion of a pre-fabricated office structure. The corridor is lined to shoulder height with glazed bricks, with moulded tile skirtings and a floral border. Cast-iron radiators survive at intervals along the corridor. In the western part of the corridor, the original terrazzo floor surface remains; in the eastern part this is covered with lino. There are moulded window-sills and door architraves, with several original panelled doors surviving.

On this floor, the rooms to the south were originally intended for senior members of staff: notably, the house governor's sitting room was to the east of the entrance, and the consultants' sitting room to the west of the entrance (with a tiled closet, originally presumably a water closet), whilst the matron's office and flat was to the east of that. These rooms retain some indication of their status, with arched tops to the window sashes, cornices, picture rails, skirtings and panelled doorways. Chimneybreasts are chamfered, though the majority of the building's simple chimneypieces have been removed.

At the north end of the central rear wing is the boardroom, entered through a panelled mahogany doorway with raised and fielded panels to the door. The boardroom has a projecting window bay to the north, framed by a false three-centred arch springing from pilasters; similar arches frame the eastern and western ends of the room. There is a trompe-l'oeil marble chimneypiece, and the ceiling is enriched by geometric plasterwork. To the south of the boardroom and forming part of a suite is the former house manager's room, now subdivided.

The principal stair occupies an open well within the south-east portion of the central rear wing. Like other stairs within the building, found at the west and east ends of the main range, this has turned balusters beneath a mahogany handrail. The glazed brick walling continues up the main stairwell. Window openings hold mahogany single-pane sash frames with curved internal corners.

The first- and second-floor wards have been subdivided. The third and fourth floors, originally providing accommodation for nurses in a similar layout to the wards below, have also been subdivided, with wards on the third floor and offices on the fourth floor. Inspection was limited in these areas, but indicated – with supporting photographic evidence – a high level of alteration and modernisation with few historic features remaining; these areas are therefore considered to be of lesser interest. A large cupboard with metal doors, thought originally to have housed medicines, survives on the second floor. On the fifth floor (the upper attic storey), the narrower dormitory spaces have also been subdivided, here to provide offices; again this area is of lesser interest. In the easternmost wing, the second-floor southern room has been fitted out as a recreation of Alexander Fleming's laboratory, forming part of a museum.

The basement of the Clarence Wing, originally the outpatients' department, is accessed via a staircase on the south side of the building, to the east of the main entrance. This part of the building largely retains its original layout, though there has been subdivision in some areas. Surviving original features include glazed brick walling to shoulder height (now over-painted), glazed timber mahogany doors and window frames allowing for internal light distribution, together with glazed overdoor screens. The stairwell is enclosed by a glazed timber screen with a door. To the south of the stair is the former waiting area, originally open but now subdivided. In this area columns can still be seen, bearing the letter 'C' beneath a coronet with the date '1897'; the columns are now partly enclosed by partitions. To the north-east is the pharmacy, with a glazed timber screen for controlled dispensing of medicines. There are brick vaults to the south-east, beneath Praed Street.

Subsidiary Features

The building is surrounded to the south and west by an area protected by replacement railings (in place by 1972) on a dwarf wall. The entrance and corners are marked by stone piers with ogival caps.

To the east, the building is connected with the New Medical School (which as noted above, has not been assessed) on the opposite side of Norfolk Place by cast and wrought-iron gates erected as a Second World War memorial. These are defined by stone piers, engaged to either side, with tall central piers flanking the roadway. The piers have fluted bands beneath projecting caps. The central gates, controlling vehicular access, are hung from side panels enriched with scrolled wrought iron. Each gate has an elaborate central panel, one topped by 'ST M' and the other by the letter 'H'. The outer gateways, controlling pedestrian access, have the same side panels and simpler double gates. Beside the gates to the west, set into the building, is a stone plaque bearing the inscription: 'THESE GATES WERE ERECTED / BY A FRIEND OF THE HOSPITAL / AS A MEMORIAL TO / ALL ST MARY'S MEN WHO FELL / IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR / 1939-1945'.

Exclusions

Pursuant to section 1(5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, it is declared that the vertical extensions to the central rear wing are not of special architectural or historic interest. However, any works which have the potential to affect the character of the listed building as a building of special architectural or historic interest may still require listed building consent, and this is a matter for the local planning authority to determine.