The Bristol Homeopathic Hospital

The Bristol and Clifton Homeopathic Dispensary, Upper Berkeley Place, Bristol,  was instituted in 1832,

The Bristol Homeopathic Hospital, also known as the Bruce Melville Wills Memorial, was endowed by Walter Melville Wills in 1925, and is dedicated to Walter Melville Will’s son Bruce, who was killed in the Great War. Walter Melville Wills purchased the house and gardens at Cotham Hill in Bristol and donated them to the Bristol Homeopathic Hospital.

Walter Melville Wills also paid for the creation and upkeep of the Bristol Homeopathic Hospital Gardens, using the same firm of garden designers who created his own gardens at Bracken Hill in Bristol, James Pulham and Son.

The Cotham Hill site now houses the Academic Unit of Primary Health Care, the University of Bristol, Cotham House, Cotham Hill, Bristol BS6 6JL

The Bristol Homeopathic Hospital is still based at Cotham Hill, Cotham, Bristol BS6 6JU

Photos from Francis Treuherz, with thanks!

1832 - The Bristol and Clifton Homeopathic Dispensary was instituted in 1832 at Upper Berkley Place, Bristol, and staffed by Francis Black, William Austin Gillow, W H Trotman, **Henry Wilkins **?1803 - ?1870, LAC 1832, MRCS 1832, was a British orthodox physician who converted to homeopathy, Physician at the Bristol Homeopathic Dispensary, Henry Wilkins practiced at 56 Park Street, Bristol, (Rev. George Wilkins was a Member of the Management Committee of the Soho Homeopathic Dispensary in 1855),

1852 - the Dispensary becomes a hospital,

1868 - the Dispensary is now located at 76 Old Castle Street, Old Market Bristol - Surgeon John Millard, and at 17 Nicholas Street, Bristol - Physician George Shepherd ?1831 - ?1898, MD Heidelberg 1858, was a British orthodox physician, who converted to homeopathy, Physician at the Bristol Homeopathic Dispensary. George Shepherd practiced at Gordon House, Tyndall Park, Clifton, Bristol, and at 17 Nicholas Street, Bristol,

1872 - the Dispensary is now located at 19, Somerset Street, Kingsdown, - Surgeon John Millard ?1798 - ?1865,  LSA London 1825, MRCSL England 1827, was a British orthodox physician, Surgeon at HEICS, who converted to homeopathy, Surgeon at the Bristol Homeopathic Dispensary, Physician at the Pentonville Homeopathic Dispensary. John Millard practiced at 40 Freemantle Square, Kingsdown, Bristol, at 76 Old Castle Street, Old Market Bristol, 19, Somerset Street, Kingsdown Bristol, and at 25 Percy Circle, Pentonville, London. John Millard wrote Diseases Caused by Mental Emotions,

1873 - the Dispensary is now located at 31, Triangle, Queen’s Road, and at 2, White Ladies Road, Bristol - Surgeon T D Nicholson (NB: I have been unable to trace this surgeon, but this may be his son? - Thomas Dickinson Nicholson (?1870-?1923), MD, CM Edinburgh, MRCS England, was an orthodox physician who converted to homeopathy, Physician to the Clifton Homeopathic Dispensary and Hahnemann Hospital, 2, White Ladies Road, Bristol. Nicholson was a member of the British Homeopathic Association. Thomas Dickinson Nicholson was a colleague of R W Barrow, Francis Henry Bodman, S Morgan. Thomas Dickinson Nicholson submitted cases and articles to various homeopathic journals).

1893 - the hospital records a total of 1377 patients seen,

1899 - the English Homeopathic Congress is held at the hospital,

1909 - Bristol experiences a wave of support for homeopathy,

1925 - Walter Melville Wills was a homeopathic patient of Christopher Osmond Bodman, and the Bodman family remained connected to the Bristol Homeopathic hospital thereafter for many years,

1929 - Robert Victor Cooke was a Surgeon at the hospital,

1930 - Hamilton Bailey was a Surgeon at the hospital,

1948 - the hospital becomes incorporated into the NHS,

1954 - the British Homeopathic Congress is held at the hospital,

1972 - Sergei William Kadleigh died in the Staines plane crash in 1972. There is a William Kadleigh Academic Department of Homeopathic Medicine at the Bristol Homeopathic Hospital and the William Kadleigh Memorial Fund supports young homeopathic doctors.

1986 - the in patient services of the hospital were transferred to the Bristol Eye Hospital, and the out patient services were moved to the ground floor of the Cotham Hill site.

1994 - following the sale of the main building to Bristol University by the Bristol and District Health Authority, a new purpose built Department for the Bristol Homeopathic Hospital has been provided in the Annexe buildings of the main building, adjoining the original Cotham Hill site and Cotham House.

The Bristol Homeopathic Hospital has published many scientific research trials into homeopathy, and a few are listed below Read about more scientific research into homeopathy:

2001 – _Homeopathic Treatment for Chronic Disease: A 6-Year, University-Hospital Outpatient Observational Study. _David S. Spence, Directorate of Homeopathic Medicine, United Bristol Healthcare, National Health Service Trust, Bristol, United Kingdom. Elizabeth A. Thompson, University Department of Palliative Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom. S.J. Barron, Directorate of Homeopathic Medicine, United Bristol Healthcare, National Health Service Trust, Bristol, United Kingdom. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2005, 11(5): 793-798. -  includes data from the Liverpool Department of Homeopathic Medicine in 2001, where 76% of 1,100 patients reported an improvement of their condition. Read about more scientific research into homeopathy

2002 - The homeopathic approach to symptom control in the cancer patient: a prospective observational study Thompson EA, Reillly D. Directorate of Homeopathic Medicine, United Bristol Healthcare Trust, Bristol Homeopathic Hospital, UK Palliat Med. 2002 May;16(3):227-33. Read about more scientific research into homeopathy

2004 - John Stephen Hughes Games, President of the Faculty of Homeopathy, Physician at the Bristol Homeopathic Hospital, died.

2005 - Cost effectiveness of homeopathy in chronic diseases. Wirtschaftlichkeit der homöopathischen Behandlung bei chronischen Erkrankungen. D Spence 1 1 Bristol Homeopathic Hospital, Bristol, UK. Read about more scientific research into homeopathy

2005 - Homeopathic Treatment for Chronic Disease: A 6-Year, University-Hospital Outpatient Observational Study David S. Spence, Directorate of Homeopathic Medicine, United Bristol Healthcare, National Health Service Trust, Bristol, United Kingdom. Elizabeth A. Thompson, University Department of Palliative Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom. S.J. Barron, Directorate of Homeopathic Medicine, United Bristol Healthcare, National Health Service Trust, Bristol, United Kingdom. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2005, 11(5): 793-798. doi:10.1089/acm.2005.11.793. Read about more scientific research into homeopathy

2007 - Men with cancer: is their use of complementary and alternative medicine a response to needs unmet by conventional care? Evans MA, Shaw AR, Sharp DJ, Thompson EA, Falk S, Turton P, Thompson T. Academic Unit of Primary Care, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK Eur J Cancer Care (Engl). 2007 Nov;16(6):517-25 Read about more scientific research into homeopathy

2008 - Predictors of complementary therapy use among asthma patients: results of a primary care survey Shaw A, Noble A, Salisbury C, Sharp D, Thompson E, Peters TJ. Academic Unit of Primary Health Care, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK Health Soc Care Community. 2008 Mar;16(2):155-64. Read about more scientific research into homeopathy

2008 - Towards standard setting for patient-reported outcomes in the NHS homeopathic hospitals. Thompson EA, Mathie RT, Baitson ES, Barron SJ, Berkovitz SR, Brands M, Fisher P, Kirby TM, Leckridge RW, Mercer SW, Nielsen HJ, Ratsey DH, Reilly D, Roniger H, Whitmarsh TE. Bristol Homeopathic Hospital, Bristol, UK. Homeopathy. 2008 Jul;97(3):114-21. Read about more scientific research into homeopathy

2009 - “In at the deep end”: an intensive foundation training in homeopathy for medical students. Thompson TD, Thompson EA. Academic Unit of Primary Health Care, University of Bristol, Cotham House, Cotham Hill, Bristol BS66JL Homeopathy. 2009 Apr;98(2):107-13. Read about more scientific research into homeopathy

Current staff at the Bristol Homeopathic Hospital include Helen Beaumont, Lee Burton, Christina Scott Moncrieff,  Elizabeth Thompson,  Trevor Thompson,

The Bristol Homeopathic Hospital conducts  many training courses in homeopathy.