An Exploration of the Rise and Demise of England’s Fever Hospitals

When Covid-19 struck, we turned to history for answers — and found ourselves looking back at the 1918–20 influenza pandemic, a crisis that had shaped public health for generations.

For previous generations, death from infectious disease was far from uncommon. At their peak in 1914, 755 fever hospitals across the UK were treating up to 3,000 patients at a time, tackling tuberculosis, diphtheria, smallpox, typhus and Spanish flu. Improvements in housing, sanitation, immunisation and antibiotics would eventually consign them to history — but their story is far from forgotten.

In this fascinating talk, Professor Elizabeth Mason-Whitehead explores the rise and demise of fever — latterly known as isolation — hospitals: the people who worked in them, the patients they treated, and the communities that grew up around them, including here in Cheshire and Chester.

To book tickets, please email a request to Fhsc.histsoc@chester.ac.uk or call 01244 512963.

FAQs

• Is this venue Accessible?

  Yes. This is an accessible venue.

  
  

  Access is via main Wheeler Building reception, on Castle Drive by the River Dee. This has one flight of steps to reception followed by lift or stair access to the basement and first floor.

  
  

  Those with limited mobility can enter the building via an accessible route by contacting fhsc.histsoc@chester.ac.uk or phoning 01244 512963 in advance to make the necessary arrangements.