Westminster Hospital Medical School

Westminster Hospital Medical School was established in 1834 as a private school in Dean Street, London, by administrators and medical staff, notably G J Guthrie. By 1841, the hospital governors decided to purchase the buildings. Problems with the lease, along with difficulties in providing a specimen museum, led to falling numbers and revenue and the school halted in 1847. It was restablished in 1849, financed by the lecturers paying for their chairs. The establishment of a specimen museum meant students no longer needed to study anatomy at King's College. A histology laboratory was added in 1874, and the chemistry laboratories added in 1885. A new building in Caxton Street was opened in 1885, financed by the hospital, lecturers, the City of London and subscriptions.
In 1905, the teaching of pre-clinical subjects ended at Westminster, and moved to King's College. The school was taken over by the army in 1914 to train pathologists for the war effort. Student numbers and the school suffered as a result, and it was only after 1920 that numbers improved.
A new medical school was opened in 1938, adjacent to the new hospital in St John's Gardens. The school moved again to enlarged premises in Page Street, Westminster in 1966.
The school merged with Charing Cross Hospital Medical School in 1984 and became known as the Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School. In 1993, the school moved with the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital to newly built premises on the site of the old St Stephen's Hospital on Fulham Road. The school became part of Imperial College School of Medicine on its formation in 1997.