While once there was just a field behind the Largo War Memorial, in 1926 an application was made to build a cottage for the Largo District Nurse on the ground adjoining it. This was first announced at a meeting of the Largo Parish Council in February 1926 (five years after the creation of the Memorial). It was agreed that an entrance would be made from the New Gilston road and there was some discussion over whether the memorial might need to be shifted (it wasn't in the end).
Local District Nursing Associations were responsible for employing and paying District Nurses, and providing homes for them to live in, prior to the creation of the National Health Service in July 1948. Largo was one of the first places in Fife to have a District Nurse. Details of how this came about are provided by the 1932 'Largo Village Book'. It states:
"About 45 years ago, Mrs Baxter of Teasses, feeling there was a great need for a nurse to care for the old people and to attend maternity cases, called a meeting of a few of the neighbours likely to be interested. They agreed that a nurse would be a great benefit in the place and so decided to have one. The nurse was supported at first entirely by private subscription but as time went on, and her work increased, and the patients found out how much her work meant to them, they began to contribute too. This rather happy-go-lucky method went on very successfully until after the War, then it was agreed to form a District Nursing Association, with an annual subscription for members of 5s per annum."
By June 1926, plans had been lodged for "a most inviting little home with two bay windows facing the Largo Road and Memorial." The Leven Mail of 30 June went on to say that "the accommodation will include a committee meeting room, nurse's bedroom and caretaker's bedroom." The 'Largo Village Book' notes that it was Mrs Paxton of Homelands who gave the cottage and that it was handed over in 1927.
Local District Nursing Associations were responsible for employing and paying District Nurses, and providing homes for them to live in, prior to the creation of the National Health Service in July 1948. Largo was one of the first places in Fife to have a District Nurse. Details of how this came about are provided by the 1932 'Largo Village Book'. It states:
"About 45 years ago, Mrs Baxter of Teasses, feeling there was a great need for a nurse to care for the old people and to attend maternity cases, called a meeting of a few of the neighbours likely to be interested. They agreed that a nurse would be a great benefit in the place and so decided to have one. The nurse was supported at first entirely by private subscription but as time went on, and her work increased, and the patients found out how much her work meant to them, they began to contribute too. This rather happy-go-lucky method went on very successfully until after the War, then it was agreed to form a District Nursing Association, with an annual subscription for members of 5s per annum."
By June 1926, plans had been lodged for "a most inviting little home with two bay windows facing the Largo Road and Memorial." The Leven Mail of 30 June went on to say that "the accommodation will include a committee meeting room, nurse's bedroom and caretaker's bedroom." The 'Largo Village Book' notes that it was Mrs Paxton of Homelands who gave the cottage and that it was handed over in 1927.
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