St. George's Hospital was established on this site in 1733 in a country home built in 1719 by James Lane, 2nd Viscount Lanesborough. In 1826 the trustees of St George's commissioned William Wilkins to design a new hospital. Wilkins was also the architect for the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square and University College This building was completed in the early 1830s. The hospital outgrew the site and moved to new buildings in Tooting, south west London, in 1980.
This historic building has now been carefully restored during an extensive four year project (1988-1991) and transformed into a magnificent hotel which takes the name of the former Lanesborough House on this site. The main entrance to the Lanesborough is to be found on the Knighstbridge side of Hyde Park Corner facing Hyde Park.
There is no indication as to who erected the plaque, but the fulsome description of the Lanesborough Hotel, suggests that they might have had a hand in it.
This building is the site of a grim incident that drew in Angela Burdett-Coutts and Charles Dickens and caused a change in the way the hospital treated the dead and their relatives.
Site: St George's Hospital (2 memorials)
SW1, Hyde Park Corner, The Lanesborough Hotel
Both plaques can be seen in our photo: one behind the lamppost on the left; the other attached to the bar in front of the door below the colonnade.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk
