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Elmbridge Remembers exhibition, November 2025.
Remembrance Day provides us with the opportunity to remember the sacrifice of all those that have defended our freedoms and protected our way of life.
This includes those who served on the Home Front.
This year, alongside our display ‘Elmbridge Remembers’ we’re sharing with you the story of two First World War auxiliary hospitals in Weybridge.
In the blog post below, learn more about the history of each hospital and explore candid photographs capturing moments of comradery and recovery amongst servicemen and volunteer nurses.
On the lawn, ladies and soldiers wait patiently for an event to start outside Brooklands Auxiliary Military Hospital.
Upon the outbreak of war in 1914, the government had grossly underestimated the number of casualties from trench warfare. Beds were urgently needed, and temporary hospitals were quickly opened.
Unlike military hospitals, auxiliary hospitals were converted from stately homes, schools or town halls and were run by volunteers across Britain.
Injured servicemen desperately needed time to recover before being sent back to battle and auxiliary hospitals were a safe haven, focusing on their full rehabilitation. Soldiers preferred them to military hospitals as they were homely and less strict.
To support the wounded locally, Ethel Locke-King and her husband Hugh converted two of their Weybridge homes into hospitals.
These were Caens Hill (Chaucer Avenue, Weybridge) and Brooklands (Heath Road, Weybridge).
The Richmond Herald reporting on auxiliary hospitals (Saturday 8 February 1919)
Caens Hill Military Hospital (53/1983.24).
Caens Hill Auxiliary Military Hospital opened three months into the First World War. It had 32 beds and worked in partnership with the Connaught Hospital in Aldershot.
The nursing staff consisted of a matron, two trained nurses and seven living-in members of the local Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs) – whose Commandant was Mrs Ethel Locke-King.
When the hospital was too full, overflow patients were sent to Ottermead in Ottershaw or to Highclere in Weybridge.
In 1916, Caens Hill partnered with the Special Neurological Hospital in Tooting and an orthopaedic theatre was built to operate on acute and traumatic injuries. By this time the number of beds had increased to 40.
By 1917, the hospital was accepting emergency patients from the Royal Flying Corps and patients were typically staying 54 days until they recovered.
On the following pages you can explore some candid photographs capturing moments of comradery and recovery amongst servicemen and volunteer nurses at Caens Hill.
To turn the page, click on the ‘next’ button or use the mouse to drag the page.
Servicemen pose with Red Cross nurses at the front of Caens Hill House.
A nurse, possibly a Matron poses with a bouquet of flower outside Caen Hill House. 
A soldier referees a tug-of-war between nurses in the house gardens.
Soldiers, nurses, ladies and children on the Caern Hill grounds for a day of fun. 
Red Cross nurses and servicemen appear to be inspecting a rope and ribbon for tug-of-war.
Twelve soldiers pose with a Red Cross nurse at the front of Caens Hill House. The age range of the servicemen is noticeable. 
Recovering soldiers at Caens Auxiliary Military Hospital.
Proud soldiers stand beside a Red Cross nurse. 
Formal gardens at the back of Brooklands House (180.1975)
As the war progressed, the British military continued looking for hospital beds as trench warfare resulted in horrific casualty numbers.
In response Ethel and Hugh immediately offered another house to become a hospital, their Brooklands mansion.
Weybridge locals raised money to buy 87 beds and equipment for Brooklands. With this extraordinary community backing, the hospital was officially opened by Princess Helena (Queen Victoria’s daughter) in 1915.
Brooklands was a specialist hospital, able to perform complex surgical treatments. In the summer of 1916, an outdoor ward was opened in the garden to treat septic wounds with fresh air. This was especially used for soldiers arriving from the Battle of the Somme.
Nurses cared for the wounds but also the mental wellbeing of servicemen. They organised entertainment for them and Queen Mary sent gifts such as tobacco and games.
On the following pages you can view a collection of photographs of life at Brooklands Auxiliary Hospital.
To turn the page, click on the ‘next’ button or use the mouse to drag the page.
Soldiers from Ward 12 at Brooklands House.
Patients from Wards 9, 10 and 12 pose on the steps and through open windows at Brooklands House. 
Soldiers sit in the Brookland gardens, two of the men have injuries to their feet as they wear slippers.
A recovering solider has a donkey ride whilst being supervised by a Red Cross nurse. 
Nurses, ladies and soldiers on the Brooklands lawn at an event.
An amputee serviceman poses with crutches. 
Recuperating soldiers pose in the garden whilst enjoying a joke with Red Cross nurses.
Servicemen from Ward 9 pose with their injuries. The war ended in 1918. Caens Hill closed in 1919 before becoming a conference centre and finally developed into apartments. Brooklands hospital remained open until 1920. it was the last to close locally. The house and extensive grounds were sold and is now home to Brooklands Technical College.
Caens Hill was redeveloped into flats known as Caenshill House. © Google
Over the course of the war, Ethel managed Caens and Brooklands Hospitals and ten others locally. In recognition of her tireless voluntary contribution to managing the auxiliary hospitals, Ethel was awarded a Damehood on 1st January 1918.
Brooklands today © Brooklands Technical College
Interested in learning more about Caens and Brooklands Hospitals?
