| The Peace Hospice | |
| Location: | Watford |
| Region: | Hertfordshire |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Healthcare: | Private |
| Type: | Specialist |
| Speciality: | Care for the elderly |
| Founded: | 1996 |
| Map Type: | Hertfordshire |
| Coordinates: | 51.6588°N -0.4048°W |
The Peace Hospice is a health facility caring for people with a life-limiting or terminal illness, which is funded by public donations, situated on Rickmansworth Road, Watford, Hertfordshire. It is a locally listed building.[1]
The facility has its origins in the Watford and District Peace Memorial Hospital which was commissioned to commemorate the lives of local people who died in the First World War.[2] The foundation stone was laid by the Countess of Clarendon in July 1923.[2] The building was designed by Wallace Marchment in the Neo-Classical style and was opened by Princess Mary in June 1925.[2] The Watford Peace Memorial was erected outside the hospital in 1928.[2] It joined the National Health Service as the Watford Peace Memorial Hospital in 1948 and became the Peace Memorial Wing of Watford General Hospital in 1965.[2] After services transferred to Watford General Hospital Peace Memorial Wing closed in 1985.[3] [4]
Following the refurbishment of the main administration block of the old hospital, a project funded by public donations, the facility was officially reopened as the Peace Hospice by Princess Michael of Kent in 1996.[5] A new inpatient unit was completed in 2000.[5]
In 2010 the Hardcore punk band Gallows, whose performers come from Watford and Hemel Hempstead, put on a performance at the Watford Colosseum which raised funds for the Peace Hospice.[6]