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The
Manchester Royal Infirmary and Lunatic Asylum
The Manchester Royal
Infirmary has gone through a number of
transformations throughout its history. Today
the MRI is located on Oxford Road across from the
Whitworth Art Gallery. (see below)
 However, behind this
stone and brick building, built in 1908, is a new
glass and concrete MRI.
 The hospital was
founded in 1752 by Charles White, a Manchester
doctor, and the local merchant Joseph
Bancroft. White studied medicine in London
and Edinburgh. His speciality was
obstetrics, where his modern practices earned
him an international reputation. His work
resulted in a massive drop in the rate of infant
mortality. The original 12 bed hospital
building was in a house on Garden Street in
Shudehill.
Four years later the hospital moved to larger premises in Piccadilly on land donated by Sir Oswald Mosley. The area was known as the Daube Holes because it was used as a clay pit. In the Casson & Berry map of 1751 you can see a lozenge shaped lake that is designated at the Daube Holes.  The engraving
below, shown with the generous permission of
Chetham's Library, shows the fenced off area of
the Daube Holes, complete with swan, in front of
the Infirmary, flanked on either side by the
Lunatic Hospital and the Public Baths.
  The 1844 Ordnance
Survey map, below, shows all three buildings
with the lake between them and Piccadilly.
It is interesting that this time the Lunatic
Hospital is referred to as the Lunatic Asylum.
 On the Adshead map of 1851 (shown below with the permission of Chetham's Library) you can see the lake in front of a single building designated as the Manchester Royal Infirmary. This may reflect more on the skill and accuracy of the map makers than the reality on the ground.  As you can see in
the image below, the lake was replaced by a wide
promenade. This was executed by Joseph
Paxton in 1854 and designed to accommodate a
number of important statues, most of which are
still there.
 Below is an image from the Cedar Street Slides and shown here with the permission of Chetham's Library.   The image above is shown with the permission of Chethams Library. The old postcard image below shows people sitting outside the Infirmary railings in Piccadilly.   The present Manchester
Royal Infirmary was opened in 1908 and this building
demolished to be replaced by a sunken garden.
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