The Services Panel
The Cottage Hospital
The Feilding and Palmer Cottage Hospital, built in 1899 has served Lutterworth and surrounding villages for over 100 years. When opened it had two large wards, an operating room, kitchen and office on the ground floor, and the nurses sitting room and store rooms on the first. In 1911 an operating theatre and two private rooms were erected, followed by a new wing. In 1939 George Spencer gave £5000 for a maternity block to be built. In 1977 a Physiotherapy Unit was opened with a physiotherapist employed for 20 hours a week. In 1980 the Out-patients and Casualty Unit was updated and many local people continue to be treated here. The Leicestershire Constabulary Crest The crest denotes the amalgamation of the Leicestershire and Rutland Police and the Leicester City Police. The county of Leicestershire is represented by the running fox, symbol of the counties' historic link with fox hunting. Rutland is represented by the horseshoe and Leicester city by the cinquefoil. St Johns Ambulance Brigade The St John Ambulance Brigade dates from one of the oldest orders of chivalry in the word, having a hospice in the Holy City in the third century. The white cross of the holy order is still used as the St John Ambulance Brigade crest today. Leicester started a brigade in 1880. The Lutterworth Brigade was formed in 1943 from a civil defence unit and the first superintendent was Ray Binley. The last was Beryl Morgan who started as a nursing member, became a sergeant, a division officer and finally superintendent. Before the formation of the National Health Service, St John's was the only ambulance service in the area. The Lutterworth Brigade folded in 1998. The Fire Station The Lutterworth fire engine was housed underneath the school rooms of the Church School. This building is the Mechanics Institute, which now houses the Lutterworth Museum. Private insurance companies ran their own fire services. Metal badges, bearing the trade mark of the company were displayed in a prominent place, and a fire fighting team would only put out a fire for their own companies insurance holders. A government act of 1938 forced local authorities to provide a free fire fighting service.