The Royal Cornwall Infirmary was designed by William Wood,[1] and paid for by public subscription.

[2][1] It was the first of its kind in Cornwall and was designed to service the mining community.

[3] During the First World War it provided 50 beds to the War Office for serious medical cases from the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry.

[1] After expanding to provide 180 beds in 1939,[4] it was badly damaged by 500 kg bombs and by machine gun fire on 6 August 1942 during the Second World War.

[1] Services were transferred from the Infirmary to the Royal Cornwall Hospital at Treliske in the mid-1990s.