The Museum
Permanent exhibition –
The English hospital
Three days from 15 to 18 June 1815…
Mont-Saint-Jean Farm owes its listing as a heritage site by the Walloon region and its worldwide fame to the role it played in the Battle of Waterloo during this short period.
The Duke of Wellington decided to set up a field hospital in this building. Under the command of Deputy Inspector Gunning of the Royal Army Medical Corps, approximately 6,000 soldiers were treated in this makeshift hospital. According to contemporary eyewitnesses, countless lives were saved thanks to the proximity of this medical facility where the amputated limbs “piled up in the four corners of the farm’s courtyard”.
Several important historical figures
who fought at Waterloo are mentioned in the patient register of Mont-Saint-Jean hospital: Colonel William Delancey and Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Gordon, aides-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington, the Duke’s secretary (and nephew) Lord FitzRoy Somerset and William, the Prince of Orange, who was injured in the shoulder. To honour the bravery of Army Surgeon John Gunning and his team during the battle, an exhibition will focus on the events that transformed Mont-Saint-Jean Farm into a British Field Hospital.
Particular attention will be devoted to the women who played a crucial part in the patients’ survival, all too often forgotten by history. This is also the ideal occasion for visitors to learn more about field hospitals, without which countless wars would have cost considerably more lives. And since Mont-Saint-Jean Farm had already been an importance site well before 15 June 1815, we have decided to provide an overview of other great historical moments in this exhibition: its occupancy by the Knights Hospitaller (the future Order of Malta),
its strategic position at other battles, its agricultural activities and its brewing history.
Visits
With an admission ticket, you can immerse yourself in the history of the English hospital at the exhibition “The reverse of the medal”
Opening hours:
- Wednesday to Saturday : 9 am – 6 pm
- Sunday : 9 am – 1 pm
Entry fees
- Single ticket: € 5
Remarks:
– Groups of up to 25 persons are admitted to the museum.
– Dogs are not allowed inside.
– Guided tours offered by ASBL Guides 1815. This tour is available on request by email to info@fermedemontsaintjean.be made at least seven days in advance.
