Royal Eye Hospital Nelson Street Oxford Road Chorlton-on-Medlock

Symmetrical, in the style popularized by Norman Shaw a decade before, all in red brick, red terra-cotta and red tiled roofs. The range to Oxford Road has gabled dormers and projecting polygonal stair‑towers with steep hipped roofs. High in the left end bay is a terra-cotta panel showing Christ healing the blind. (Hartwell Manchester Page 313)

THE NEW MANCHESTER ROYAL EYE HOSPITAL - Plans have been prepared by Messrs Pennington and Bridgen, architects of this city and London, for the erection of a new Royal Eye Hospital. The building, for which an excellent site has been secured at the junction of Nelson Street and Oxford Road, Chorlton-on-Medlock, is intended to accommodate 100 in-patients, and will have the extensive arrangements requisite for the daily attendance of 400 out-patients. The administration, which contains suites of apartments for the resident medical officers, and the matron, boardroom, secretary's room and rooms for the medical staff, together with a spacious dining hall, occupies the ground floor of the Oxford Road frontage. The outpatients' department extends along Nelson Street, and had a spacious waiting hall, registration hall, examination rooms and dispensary. The wards, on the pavilion principal, will accommodate sixty males and forty females, with all the requisite nurses' rooms, baths, etc. fitted in the most modern and approved manner. The wards are 20 feet wide, and are divided longitudinally by dwarf wooden screens. Isolation wards are provided for infectious cases, and spacious day rooms are arranged contiguous to the wards, with airing ports available in fine weather. The corridors are sufficiently wide for and intended to be used by the ambulatories in inclement weather. In the dormitories 1,300 cubic feet are allowed to each patient. The kitchen, stores, servants' and nurses' day rooms are in the basement, and the laundry is in a detached block in the rear of the main building. The examination and operation rooms have each due north and top lights. The building has been designed in a simple, yet, from is varied outline, effective style of free classical architecture. The structure will consist of red brick with red tiled roof, and sash windows with transoms and moveable fan lights. Toned glass will be adopted in all the rooms used by the patients. The joiners' work will be varnished throughout, and the corridors and staircase will be of fireproof construction. [Manchester Guardian 3 October 1883 page 8]

THE NEW MANCHESTER ROYAL EYE HOSPITAL - Plans have been prepared by Messrs. Pennington and Bridgen, architects, of Manchester and London, for the erection of a new Royal Eye Hospital. The building, for which an excellent site has been secured at the junction of Nelson-street and Oxford-road, Chorlton-on- Medlock, is intended to accommodate 100 inpatients, and will have the extensive arrangements requisite for the daily attendance of 400 out-patients. The administration, which contains suites of apartments for the resident medical officers and the matron, board-room, secretary’s room, and rooms for the medical staff, together with a spacious dining-hall, occupies the ground-floor of the Oxford-street frontage. The out-patients’ department extends along Nelson-street, and has a spacious waiting hall, registration-hall, examination-rooms, and a dispensary. The wards, on the pavilion principle, will accommodate sixty males and forty females, with all the requisite nurses’ rooms, baths, &c., fitted in the most modern and approved manner. The wards are 25 ft. wide, and are divided longitudinally by dwarf wooden screens. Isolated wards are provided for infectious cases, and spacious day-rooms are arranged contiguous to the wards, with airing- courts available in fine weather. The corridors are sufficiently wide for, and are intended to be used as, ambulatories in inclement weather. Thirteen hundred cubic feet are allowed to each patient in the dormitories. The kitchen, stores, and servants’ and nurses’ day-rooms are in the basement, and the laundry is in a detached block in the rear of the main building. The examination and operation rooms have each due north and top lights. The building has been designed in a simple yet, from its varied outline, effective style of free Classic architecture. The structure will consist of red brick with red tiled roof, and sash windows with transoms and movable fan-lights. Toned glass will be adopted in all the rooms used by the patients. The joiners’ work will be varnished throughout, and all the corridors and staircases will be of fireproof construction. [Builder 13 October 1883 page 503]

MANCHESTER - Plans have been prepared by Messrs. Pennington and Bridgen, architects, for the erection of a new Royal Eye Hospital. The building is to accommodate 100 in-patients, and will have arrangements for 400 out-patients. The administration will contain Suites of apartments for the resident medical officers and matron, board-room, secretary's room, and rooms for medical staff, with spacious dining-hall. The out-patients’ department has a waiting-hall, registration-hall, examination rooms, and a dispensary. Wards, on the pavilion principle, will accommodate sixty males and forty females, with all the requisite nurses’ rooms, baths, etc. Isolated wards are provided for infectious cases, and Spacious day-rooms arranged contiguous to the wards, with airing ports available in fine weather. The building has been designed in a simple style of free Classic. The structure will consist of red brick with red-tiled roof, and sash windows with transoms and movable fanlights. Toned glass will be adopted in all the rooms used by the patients. [The Architect 6 October 1883 page 216]

ROYAL EYE HOSPITAL, MANCHESTER - At a meeting of the subscribers, which was held on Tuesday, the Mayor of Manchester said that the committee invited plans from six architects whose experience they thought would best fit them to design a good hospital. It was pointed out that what was wanted was a good substantial building, with accommodation for 100 beds; that the committee did not wish to spend money on architectural display, but that the cost should be about £100 per bed. The plans received varied very much in price, the highest being £34,000 and the lowest £9,850. As the latter plan was considered by the Board, as well as by an expert whom they employed, to contain all that they required, and as the tenders received from builders also agreed with the amount of the estimate, the work was entrusted to Messrs. Pennington & Bridgen, as architects, and Messrs. R. Neill & Son, as contractors. The latter had agreed to finish the building by the end of October. He was quite sure the hospital would be a credit to all concerned, as it contained all the requirements which modern science demanded, and all the com forts which the patients could desire. Objections had been raised to the site, but it was the best and cheapest available. It had also been said that the Board ought at any rate to have a receiving room in the middle of the city, but this could not be without incurring an expenditure which they did not feel justified in permitting. The actual cost of the site was a little more than £5,000, and it was anticipated that the whole cost of the new hospital, including land, buildings, and furniture, would not exceed the amount stated in the appeal which was issued to the public— i.e. from £5,000 to £20,000, a result which could not have been obtained if a more costly site had been chosen. [The Architect 2 February 1884 page 84]

Reference        Manchester Guardian 3 October 1883 page 8
Reference        Builder 13 October 1883 page 503
Reference        The Architect 6 October 1883 page 216
Reference        The Architect 2 February 1884 page 84
Reference        Hartwell: Manchester Page 313