The foundation stone for the former Greenbank Hospital was laid in 1881 by the fourth Earl of Mount Edgcumbe – William – after whom the Mount Edgcumbe Ward was subsequently named. There was also the Countess Caroline Ward, named after the dowager Countess of Mount Edgcumbe who died that year. Other wards, like Lopes and Maristow, were named after other worthies and notables who contributed greatly to the Hospital’s construction. Neighbouring streets, built around the same time as the Hospital, commemorated yet other local philanthropic families. Running down from Hospital Road these included Mildmay Street and Baring Street, the latter built at a time when Edward Baring (1st Earl of Revelstoke from 1885) was enjoying his greatest period of prosperity at Membland Hall, Noss Mayo. Sadly for Lord Revelstoke that prosperity ended with a major financial crisis for Barings in 1890, but the street name, unlike the Hospital itself, has survived.
