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St Mary's Hospital
 St Mary's Hospital
for Women and Children has a long history in
Manchester. The red brick and terracotta
building on the corner of Oxford Road and Hathersage
Road represents one step along the way. St.
Mary's was established in 1790 by Doctor Charles
White as a charity, in a house in Old Bridge Street,
Salford. It later moved to the Bath Inn, in
Salford, and had the unwieldy name of, “Manchester
Lying-in Hospital and Charity for the delivery of
poor women at their own habitations.”
It moved again to Quay Street and then to a purpose built establishment on the corner of Oxford Street and Whitworth Street, although when it was built in 1901 that portion of Whitworth Street was called Gloucester Street.  As you can see
from the drawing above and the image below, this
building was to be called the St. Mary's Hospital
for Women and Children.
   The building was
designed by the architect John Ely.
    In 1970 a modern building was added, adjacent to the 1907 building, on Hathersage Road. It was designed by Watkins Gray & Partners and it opened for patients on April 5th 1970. It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth in 1971. Below you can see it under construction.    In the 1990s the exposed concrete structure was clad in white panels. The completed building is seen in the photograph below, shown with the permission of Roy Conchie.  Below are three more images of the building before and during demolition. They are shown here with the permission of Paul Capewell. These images come from Paul's excellent website Manchester Daily Photo.  The St Mary's Tower block on Hathersage Road served the women and children of Manchester for 40 years but in November of 2009 the process of demolition began.  By March of 2010
only a stairwell and the lift shaft
remained. The hospital estimates that, "
It will create 42,000 tonnes of rubble, 40,000
of which are to be used within the remaining
development work and 2,000 of which will be sent
for recycling."
  Update - April 19, 2010  The 1970s
building is being swept away to make it possible
to construct a boulevard from Hathersage Road to
the new buildings. Part of the site will
also be home to a Ronald McDonald House which
will provide free accommodation to the families
of children being treated at the new Royal
Manchester Children's Hospital.
The St. Mary's Hospital web site says this about the service they provide to the community, "Over the years, (St Mary's) has successfully developed a wide range of world class medical services for women, babies and children as well as a comprehensive Genetics Centre and an internationally recognised teaching and research portfolio..... More than 1,200 staff, including doctors, nurses, midwives, scientists, clinical and non clinical support staff work in Saint Mary's and provide the highest standards of care in the following areas: Obstetrics/Maternity, Gynaecology, Genetics, Newborn Intensive Care and it also houses a Sexual Assault Referral Centre." Behind the demolition zone there are four new hospital buildings linked together in an extensive complex. Below you can see it from Upper Brook Street.  Below is the entrance to the new St. Mary's Hospital.  Close Window |