The large house in the grounds of the Hospice, originally called the Grange, was the home of a local wine merchant. In 1945 it was bought by Canon McShane, a local priest and it became a centre for worship and the priest’s residence until the Broomhill estate was acquired as the site for the new church. As the school had been called St Gemma’s it was decided to keep this name as it seemed apt for the new work of a hospice. On 12 March 1978 the new 9-bed unit was dedicated and opened it’s doors to the first patients a month later on 12 April. 1982 saw further expansion in bedspace when a new building was formally opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales on 30 March. Princess Diana returned in 1991 to open the newly built Prout Conference Centre. In May 2000 a major refurbishment began to keep pace with the ever increasing challenges as we continue caring for people from all parts of the community with advanced life threatening and progressive diseases. St Gemma’s is the largest hospice in Yorkshire and one of the largest in the UK.