Sir – I read with much interest Chris Koenig’s article (Past Times, October 15) on the history of the John Radcliffe Hospital.
I was, until I retired in 1982, Treasurer to the Oxfordshire Health Authority and am able to add a little more detail to the financial content of his article.
When I came to Oxford in 1966, the residual part of the Headington Manor estate comprising some 70 acres, stood in the books of the Radcliffe Infirmary’s endowment funds (commonly referred to as the hospital’s ‘Free Monies’ and used for such things as patients’ and staff amenities and research) at a cost valuation of just under £9,000.
In 1970, the land was sold to the Secretary of State for Health for the development of the new hospital for £525,000, thus tripling the value of the Radcliffe’s endowment funds overnight.
I well remember the ceremony of cutting the first sod preparatory to building the first phase of the John Radcliffe Hospital, followed by a bulldozer cutting a wide furrow across the medical school’s rugby pitch, said to be the best playing surface in the county!
Brian Hulse, Wantage
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here