Building Name

General Hospital, Park Road North, Birkenhead

Date
1862 - 1863
Street
Park Road North
District/Town
Birkenhead
County/Country
Merseyside, England
Architect
Client
John Laird MP
Work
New build
Status
Demolished
Contractor
John Hogarth, of Rock Ferry

The design is in the Italian style of architecture. The site selected is a piece of land fronting a hospital in Hamilton street, and which has been found totally inadequate to afford accommodation to the numerous cases of accident which are constantly occurring at the large works now developing themselves on the Cheshire side of the Mersey. The erection of the new hospital will involve an expenditure of about £5,000, exclusive of the land; and this sum Mr Laird, in the most liberal and praiseworthy spirit, has placed at the disposal of the committee. The land on which the building will be erected is situate in Livingstone Street, close to the main entrance to the park, and it was purchased from the commissioners for £500. The first stone was laid on the 20th of November last. Mr Walter Scott, of that neighbourhood, is the architect; and Mr. John Hogarth the contractor. [The Builder, 25 April 1863.]

INAUGURATION OF THE NEW HOSPITAL AT BIRKENHEAD BY MR LAIRD MP - The new hospital presented to the borough of Birkenhead by Mr John Laird MP was formally inaugurated bt that gentleman on Saturday. The hospital is a fine handsome building, erected after designs by Mr Walter Scott, architect, built chiefly of Stourton stone, and commanding a splendid view of the Birkenhead Park, which covers upwards of 189 Cheshire acres. As much stress has been laid by the best authorities, including Miss Florence Nightingale, on the construction of hospitals, against the use of absorbent materials for walls ceilings and floors, the walls and ceilings of the new hospital are covered with Parian cement, which forms a polished and completely non-absorbent surface. The floors of all the wards, and of the operating room, the corridors, water closets, bathrooms and lobbies are laid with polished oak. It was announced during the proceedings that Mr T Brassey, contractor, had forwarded a cheque for £500 to pay for the land upon which the hospital had been built. [Manchester Guardian 23 November 1863 page 3]

A small hospital but remarkably well arranged in a sanitary point of view has been built at Birkenhead from the designs of Mr Walter Scott of Liverpool. [Civil Engineer and Architect’s Journal 1863 vol 27 page 2].

The New Birkenhead Hospital in the Italian style, designed by Walter Scott and erected at the entire cost of John Laird Esq MP for Birkenhead of £5000. The foundation stone was laid in 1862 and the building opened in December 1863. Thomas Brassey Esq gave £500 for furniture. The building replaced an earlier hospital on Hamilton Street. [Ref: The Stranger’s Guide through Birkenhead and its Environs etc, by Robert Hinton 1864, p 38.]

The Cheshire Observer of 28 November 1863 and the Liverpool Daily Post of 25 November 1863 gave  full accounts of the opening of the building and its location on Conway Street on land between Livingston and Prince Edwins Streets with a southern aspect overlooking Birkenhead Park. Walter Scott was chosen because of his association with Birkenhead. He had researched new hospitals in Buckingham and York, studied French hospitals and consulted the ideas of Florence Nightingale. The building was of brick and Stourton stone of two storeys with gardens attached and land for further expansion.

Reference    The Builder, 25 April 1863.
Reference    Civil Engineer and Architect’s Journal 1863 vol 27 page 2.
Reference    Robert Hinton: The Stranger’s Guide through Birkenhead and its Environs etc. 1864, page 38
Reference    Manchester Guardian 23 November 1863 page 3 – inauguration
Reference    Cheshire Observer 28 November 1863 – inauguration
Reference    Liverpool Daily Post 25 November 1863 – inauguration
Reference    Hartwell/Hyde/Pevsner/Hubbard. Buildings of England: Cheshire 2011, page 139n