Infirmary. Chamber Hills. Ashton-under-Lyne

ASHTON UNDER LYNE DISTRICT INFIRMARY - On Saturday evening the foundation stone of the Ashton-under-Lyne District Infirmary was laid in the presence of a very large assembly, by the Right Hon T Milner Gibson, member for the borough and President of the Board of Trade; that ceremony being followed by the laying of a corner stone by A H Royds Esq RWDPGM of the Freemasons of East Lancashire. .... Mr H T Darnton read the inscription on the plate intended to cover the cavity in the foundation stone as follows:

The erection of an infirmary for a district within a circle of 32 miles from the Town Hall, Ashton-under-Lyne, was originated by a bequest of £10,000 for its maintenance, contained in the will of the late Samuel Oldham Esq of Oak View near Ashton-under-Lyne, dated the 11th March 1858. The site, containing five statute acres, was given by the Right Hon, the Earl of Stamford and Warrington. Voluntary donations for its erection and additional endowment, exceeding £9,000, were contributed by all classes within fifteen months from the death of Mr Oldham. The foundation stone of this infirmary, to be called “The District Infirmary” was laid on the 30th July 1859 by the Right Hon. Thomas Milner Gibson, President of the Board of Trade, and MP for Ashton-under-Lyne. [Manchester Guardian, 1 August 1859, Page 3]

THE NEW INFIRMARY: ASHTON-UNDKR-LYNE. The first stone of the Ashton Infirmary has just been laid, with great ceremony. Since our notices of the designs, considerable alterations have been made in the selected design by Mr. Lindley, the architect, under the advice of Mr. Robertson, of Manchester, Mr. Aspland, of Dukinfield, and others, with the express object of securing as nearly as possible the advantages of the pavilion principle, or those generally which we deemed requisite in hospital construction. It will be recollected that prior to the competition, architects who applied for instructions were referred to the articles which had appeared in our journal. Our subsequent notices, we find, were reprinted by the local press. The site at Chamber Hills has been retained, and the general arrangement of the plan appears to be the same us at first, namely, that of the offices surrounding a court, and two wings to contain the wards to be first provided—their staircases, however, connected to one another by the general corridor. The important alterations are in the removal of obstructions to the light and air of the court. The washhouse and laundry no longer enclose this court at the end, but form a prolongation of the southern side; and a stair- case which projected has been removed, and in its place, there will be an opening, with iron gate, opposite the main entrance, for the sake of free current of air. Instead of the central stair-case, a private staircase for the surgeon and matron will be placed at one end. The main corridor will be 12 feet in width instead of 7 feet; and at its ends nearest the wards, passages leading to the grounds at the back, will be formed, in order that convalescents may have ready access thereto. The dead-house and post mortem room are to be detached, and at the north-west angle of the grounds, instead of as part of the main building, beneath the washhouse and laundry. Each ward is to contain ten beds, as first designed; but the width between the walls has been reduced to 20 feet. The cubical contents will still greatly exceed 2,000 feet per patient. The closets attached to the wards have been greatly improved. They now project in a central position from the end of the wing containing the ward, in each case, —or as described by us at Blackburn, —so that a current of air, by opposite windows, can be maintained, intersecting their passages of entrance. The walls of the wards will be lined with Parian cement. The frontage will now occupy a length of 280 feet 6 inches, and there will be a depth in the centre of 97 feet. The height of the front, to the eaves, will be in the centre 38 feet; and that in the wings will be 34 feet. Above these heights will be lofty roofs; and there will be a clock-tower in the centre, and an arcade and balcony on each side the principal entrance. The decorative details of the design, called Elizabethan, have, we hope, participated in the general improvement. The building, with the two wings, or four wards, will still accommodate, in the first instance, only forty patients; or, adding the accident wards and other apartments, in all forty-eight patients. This is for the very populous district within a circle of three and a half miles from the town of Ashton. There can be no disputing the expensiveness of the pavilion system in ground and building. But the question is, —what is that which is demanded for the object? And if it be the fact, as now is abundantly proved, that the old sites and arrangements of plan do not assist the cure of disease, but engender disease, it may be simple economy and matter of humanity to provide nothing less for alleviation of suffering, than whatever area of ground or cubical contents of a building are essential in the pavilion principle, which, as we lately explained, will not be absolutely carried into effect, even at Blackburn, any more than it will be at Ashton, as we yet understand, though the advance made in both those cases will be very great. [Builder 13 August 1859 page 531-532]

Reference    Manchester Guardian Saturday 11 June 1859 Page 2 (Contracts)
Reference    Manchester Guardian, Monday 1 August 1859, Page 3 Col 4  - foundation stone
Reference    Builder 13 August 1859 page 531-532