Belfast Trust is marking the 125th anniversary of the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) at the Grosvenor Road site with a new heritage project telling the story of the hospital, its staff, and its patients.
The RVH 125 project has received £250,000 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players and will deliver a three-year programme of heritage activity building on the rich but neglected legacy of the Royal to restore a sense of pride and create new connections for staff, service users and visitors.
It will capture the unique heritage of the hospital, along with the experiences of staff, patients, and families, ensuring that the hospital’s legacy is preserved for future generations, culminating in its 125th Anniversary in 2028.
Members of the public will be welcomed to the historic site for talks, tours and exhibitions sharing the Royal’s heritage collection of social and medical histories that is unique in Northern Ireland. Belfast Trust will appoint a new project team to deliver RVH 125, including a Project Coordinator and a Project Archivist.
Since its official opening on 27th July 1903, the Royal Victoria Hospital has provided round-the-clock healthcare for the people of Belfast and beyond. By the late 1800s, the old General Hospital on Frederick Street was no longer fit for purpose. Recognising the need for a new purpose-built hospital to meet the demands of a burgeoning industrial city, the Lord Mayor William Pirrie and his wife Margaret, took a major role in establishing the new facility.
Professor Stuart Elborn, Chair of Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, said:
“The Royal has long stood at the heart of healthcare in Belfast, with a proud and rich heritage built on excellence in clinical care, education, research and service to our community. Preserving and celebrating that legacy is essential, not only to honour those who came before us, but to inspire future generations.”
Jennifer Welsh, Chief Executive of Belfast Trust added, “I would like to sincerely thank the Heritage Fund for their generous support. Their investment enables us to capture and share the remarkable stories, people and achievements that define the Royal Victoria Hospital and its enduring contribution to health and wellbeing across Northern Ireland.”
RVH 125 will use storytelling and oral histories to connect with the hospital’s vast but untapped material archive Over three years, the project team will work closely with local community groups, former staff, and partner organisations to gather materials and stories, creating a digital museum with a dedicated website.
The last of the original operating theatres in the Royal, the Sir Ian Fraser Lecture Theatre, will be refurbished and opened to the public as a heritage space to host permanent and temporary exhibitions of the hospital’s collections.
Dr Paul Mullan, Northern Ireland Director at The National Lottery Heritage Fund said:
“Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. It is great to see this project taking time to reflect on the variety of connections that people have to ‘the Royal’; a place that has played a central role in everyday life and integral to our social history for nearly 125 years.
“RVH 125 is creating two new heritage roles and by repairing and conserving the Sir Ian Fraser Lecture Theatre a dedicated interpretation space will continue sharing the hospital’s heritage. The range of creative activities, exhibitions, in-person events alongside the opportunity to engage with an online archive mean that the project can be accessed by people near and far.”
Medical artefacts and documents will be on display, along with maps, plans, reports and photographs documenting the design and construction of the 1903 building and its historic air conditioning system as well as celebrating the many medical innovations that took place at the site and the history of nursing at the Royal. The project will explore the generous philanthropic heritage of the people of Belfast and beyond, in their charitable support of the Royal Victoria Hospital.
Special workshops will be offered to train volunteers in cataloguing and digitising documents and photographic collections to assist the project team.
Creative commissions closely linked to the archives will include artwork, music, drama and creative writing.
Plans also include cataloguing the contents of the existing Archive Office in the King Edward Building to make it accessible for research use and guided visits.
