History of BMEC

Joseph Hodgson, a British eye surgeon, started his campaign to open an eye hospital in Birmingham in October 1823. Six months later, in April 1824, The Infirmary for the Cure of Diseases of the Eye was opened at Cannon Street, Birmingham.

In 1853 after 30 years at Cannon Street, the increase in work at the infirmary meant a larger hospital was needed. To accommodate for this need, a house was bought in Steelhouse Lane and converted into a 15-bed hospital known as the Birmingham and Midland Eye Institution.

By 1861 the Steelhouse Lane property also became too small to accommodate the increasing number of patients the

Joseph Hodgson 1788-1869

Joseph Hodgson 1788-1869

hospital was treating. The Steelhouse Lane property was offered to the Birmingham and Midland Free Hospital for Sick Children and the Birmingham and Midland Eye Institution moved out to a property in Temple Row in 1862, which provided room for 50-beds.

On the move to Temple Row the Institution changed its name again to the Birmingham and Midland Eye Hospital.

The new Temple Row property carried a public house licence; the hospital governors renovated the public house, letting it out to a tenant. The hospital continued to own this inn for the next 20 years.

  • 1800s

    The new Temple Row property carried a public house licence; the hospital governors renovated the public house, letting it out to a tenant. The hospital…

  • 1900s

    In 1909, a private ward block was opened. A further adjoining property in Barwick Street was purchased and by 1910 was in use as a…

  • 2000s

    The old hospital building at Church Street remained disused until 2000, when it underwent a makeover and became a 4 star establishment, the Hotel du…

  • Birmingham and Midland Eye Hospital (1883 – 1983)

    This is a publication on the 100th anniversary of the Eye Hospital. History of BMEC

  • Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre

    Need for a new hospital was evident before the outbreak of the 2nd World War.  In 1939, a site had been agreed near the Queen…