Archway Hospital

Archway Hospital is a hospital building in Highgate comprising several connected Victorian structures arranged across the site to house different medical functions. The complex features interconnected corridors that link the separate buildings into one functional ensemble for patient care.

The site began in 1879 as Holborn Union Infirmary and was renamed to its current title in 1930 when it came under London County Council control. This shift reflected broader changes in how the city managed medical services and operated its healthcare facilities.

The hospital's Victorian brick buildings shape the local streetscape with their distinctive medical architecture that still conveys practical thinking about patient care from that era. Walking past reveals how building design once reflected beliefs about how hospitals should organize different kinds of treatment and rest.

The site comprises multiple separate buildings that can be explored on foot, with some structures visible from Archway Road and others set back on the grounds. Allow time to orient yourself as the various parts of the complex are not all immediately accessible or visible from a single vantage point.

In 1998 the complex was acquired by University College London and Middlesex University and transformed into an educational campus rather than remaining a hospital. This shift from active patient care to teaching facilities is a less obvious chapter in the site's story that many visitors overlook.

Location: England

GPS coordinates: 51.56696,-0.13607

Latest update: December 11, 2025 11:09