pommie lass Posted October 3, 2015 Report Share Posted October 3, 2015 Can anyone tell me exactly where the old Warrington Infirmary was located? I have a vague memory of it being somewhere near Bank Park but my memory could easily be deceiving me as I left Warrington quite a few years ago. I have Googled it but it always comes up as the hospital in Lovely Lane which we used to call "The Borough" or the old workhouse. Any photos would be appreciated too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Sid Posted October 3, 2015 Report Share Posted October 3, 2015 From a quick look about on teh web i have found reference to the infirmary opening on Kendrick street. Warrington museum website has a picture of the nurses outside the infirmary but whether it is the same one i am not sure. http://www.mywarrington.me.uk/timeline.htm This site has a lot of information on warrington past and present as well as photo's so may be of some help. Not sure when it was closed but i do have vague memories of attending there as a nipper with various lumps, bumps and abrasions.( note i have vague memories of yesterday as well so could be mistaken) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy51 Posted October 3, 2015 Report Share Posted October 3, 2015 I was there in it's casualty department in the mid 70s as a patient. The nurses home used to be in Bewsey Road next to what is now the Co-op undertakers.My first wife managed to get locked out of there more once for not being back before the curfew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hill Cliffe walker Posted October 3, 2015 Report Share Posted October 3, 2015 The courts of Warrington Crown Court now occupy part of the site where the Warrington Infirmary used to be, in Kendrick Street. The Old Infirmary on Kendrick Street closed on 3rd January, 1980. WARRINGTON DISPENSARY AND INFIRMARY The Warrington Dispensary opened for the admission of patients on 10 April 1810, for "the relief of the Sick Poor in this Town and Neighbourhood", offering out-patient facilities. In 1842, a small infirmary and house of recovery was opened, but within 12 years, the building was leased as a militia store; leaving only the Dispensary in Buttermarket Street. Finally in 1872, in-patient facilities were provided by the generosity of James Hatton, and, for some years the Infirmary was known as the as the Hatton Charity. A new Hospital building was opened in 1877. In 1948, when it ceased to be a voluntary hospital and came under the control of the Warrington and District Hospital Management Committee, it had 172 beds. The building was demolished in December 1980. From http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/rd/444e5603-1f28-4146-91da-bacf8c1b03dc Photo http://www.warringtonmuseum.co.uk/local-history/wdia/healthhousing2/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stallard12 Posted October 3, 2015 Report Share Posted October 3, 2015 Ahh, my second home !! If you were a teenager who rode bicycles and motorcycles, you could soon be on first name terms with the blue dressed, white capped nurses. Go all the way to the bottom of Legh St and turn left on Kenrick St. - impossible now I believe, A perfect example of Victorian hospitals, Florence Nightingale would fit right in. I have limped the darkened midnight halls on many an occasion - very scary. It was close to Bank Park and if you looked out of your bedside window in Walker Ward, you could see right into the park behind the Town Hall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted October 3, 2015 Report Share Posted October 3, 2015 This is the only photo I have of the old infirmary on Kendrick Street. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Sid Posted October 3, 2015 Report Share Posted October 3, 2015 Very imposing looking building. As i recall they had a very no nonsense attitude in there. "broken leg, i thought it was something serious the way were going on" he very words uttered to my brother when he came back from the xray depot. Although in hindsight the nurse may have been joking, but not much as she had that sort of look on her face that said only come here if you are dying or dead, and even then think twice about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pommie lass Posted October 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 Thank you everyone for your input and the photo from Dizzy. I suppose I wouldn't have remembered how to get to it as it is so long ago since I visited the place. I do remember now that it was down Legh Street. Once I got a holiday job at the laundry in Thelwall Lane and I had been there less than half a day when I got my hand trapped in a steam press and they took me to the infirmary. Another time I went with my then boyfriend to the home of his Irish relations where they were having a drunken party. A fight broke out and he got a really bad cut on his hand and I think the tendon was severed. To be honest I can't really remember how we got there that time. On reflection I now recall that my Mum took me there on the bus from Orford to the outpatients to have my hand looked at a few times before they sent me to Whiston Hospital for a skin graft. It was a fascinating old place and it is sad that like so many other lovely old buildings it is no longer in existence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 I remember visiting my mum in there in the early 1970s when she broke her angle ice skating Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy51 Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 I wonder how many admin staff had to be accommodated on the pay roll in those days ,the days when the Matron ruled the roost ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted October 6, 2015 Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 Probably not many Davy.It was build in 1877 according to the newspaper clipping I've got and it says that by 1890 there was still only accommodation for 40 beds despite additions that were made, way less than was needed.In 1907 it was extended again to include a pavilion of 3 storeys and a nurses home at a cost of £15,000 defrayed by public conscription appeals.When it was extended Lady Lilford put a bottle in a cavity of the foundation stone which contained a copy of the annual of the Infirmary and also local and medical newspapers.I wonder what happened to the foundation stone when it was knocked down and if anyone knew there was something hidden inside it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted October 6, 2015 Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Hignett Posted September 6, 2021 Report Share Posted September 6, 2021 Does anyone remember the names of the wards at the Warrington Infirmary? I and a friend worked there in the X-Ray department until 1968, when we left for Australia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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