Work began earlier this week on removing Whittington Hospital’s incinerator chimney.

The chimney, which stands prominently facing towards Magdala Avenue, has not been used by the hospital for some time. Following a survey, the decision was made to take it down.

A spokesperson from Whittington Health NHS Trust said: “This week we have started work to dismantle the chimney stack on our hospital site. The works will continue until the end of March.

“The chimney has not been in use for several years and following a routine survey, we were informed that it needed to be dismantled.”

The Whittington site is recorded to having provided medical services since 1473, when a leper hospital was established.

Over the years, a new hospital on the site was combined with others in Archway and Highgate. Following the formation of the NHS in 1948, they collectively formed the Whittington Hospital.

According to the Whittington Health Trust website, today the hospital has a total of 330 beds.