Time for Another Clock … another story from Tony Goulding

This clock is a feature of the old St. Mary’s Hospital building on Oxford Road, Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester. 

This institution has its origins in the “Manchester Lying-in Hospital and Charity for the delivery of poor women at their own habitations.”, established by Dr. Charles White and Richard and Edward Hall, in 1790. The first buildings used were in Salford, a house on Old Bridge Street and later, from 1795, the former “Bath Inn”, Stanley Street on the banks of the river Irwell. (“Manchester Mercury” 4th August 1795). 

The explosive increase in the area’s population together with an expansion of the services the charity offered, soon meant  it became necessary for larger premises to be sought. After initially moving to 2, South Parade, St. Mary’s Churchyard in 1840 (1) a new purpose-built hospital, designed by the Salford-born architect Nathan Glossop Pennington and funded by Dr. Thomas Radford, was opened on land purchased for £500 by Miss Eleanora Atherton (2) on Quay Street, Manchester in 1856. 

The foundation stone of the new building had been laid by the Bishop of Manchester, the Right Rev. James Prince Lee D.D. on 3rd September 1855. The Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser carried a very detailed report of the ceremony in its edition of the 8th September. 

This included listing the collection of items enclosed by the foundation stone as a sort of time capsule; a set of newly minted coins, copies of Manchester Newspapers of the day, and a commemorative medal celebrating Queen Victoria’s visit to the city on the 10th of October 1851.  

More interestingly also buried were documents associated with the hospital including a summary of its early history and how the Queen's visit had provided a catalyst for the fund-raising efforts of the ladies of Manchester on behalf of the hospital

 St. Mary’s Hospital Quay Street in 1892 (3)

When this building was built, it was seen to incorporate the latest ideas of hospital design however within three decades the further advances in medical knowledge, in particular advances in the understanding of how infections are spread, it once again became desirable for the hospital to acquire new premises to accommodate this. 

A prolonged fund-raising effort was undertaken from the mid 1880s, but it was not until Monday 9th October 1899 that the foundation stone of a new hospital was laid. The duty was undertaken by the Countess of Derby at noon on that day.  

One of the reasons for the elongated appeal was the complication caused by a proposed amalgamation of St. Mary’s Hospital with Manchester’s “Southern Hospital for Diseases of Women and Children” at 26, Clifford Street, Chorlton-on-Medlock. The long-drawn-out negotiations between the two charities ended in November 1904 when agreement was reached to merge subject to approval by the Commissioners. 

There would still be two separate buildings, however, confusingly both called St. Mary’s Hospital as the combined charity went under the name of “St. Mary’s Hospitals (plural)” Charity. The original St. Mary’s completed the construction of the one started in 1899 on the corner of Oxford Road and what was then Gloucester Street (now Whitworth Street West). 

St. Mary’s hospital on Whitworth Street West in 1964 

This was one of the last buildings associated with the prolific architect, the designer of Manchester Town Hall, Alfred Waterhouse and after the two charities combined would be designated as providing outpatient care and beds solely for maternity cases.

On land acquired by Manchester Southern Hospital in the 1890s a new facility was erected further along Oxford Road on the corner of Haversage Road (then called High Street). In due course this was to provide in-patient beds 80 for women and 25 for children The architect appointed was John Ely, who’s designs had also just won the competition for an extension to Salford Royal Hospital.

This building, which is now Grade 11 listed, was built between 1907 and October 1909; the builder being Robert Neill and Sons.   After some delays due to lack of funds, the first patients were admitted in April 1911, however, it was not officially opened until Tuesday 6th February 1912 when Lord Derby, the president of the charity’s board of trustees performed the ceremony.

St. Mary’s hospital building on 15th May 2012

Following the building of a new maternity hospital, which became known as St. Mary’s Tower on Haversage Road in 1969 the site on Whitworth Street was run down and demolished in 1973. (As, subsequently was the “Tower Block”). The building facing Whitworth Park is still being used to provide an N.H.S. service, a Reproductive Medicine Clinic.

Pictures; St. Mary’s clock from collection of Tony Goulding. 

St. Mary’s Hospital, Quay Street, 1892 by S. L. Coulthurst (m53203) and St. Mary’s Hospital, Whitworth Street West, 1964 by W. Higham (m53229) courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council. http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

 St. Mary’s Hospital (1909 building) on Oxford Road, May 2012 Stephen Richards, CC BY-SA 2.0,

 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64788474

Notes: -

1) This building was severely damaged by fire on the morning of Thursday 4th February 1847. Fortunately, the hospital was at that time not admitting in-patients and the three staff and the matron’s two female relatives managed to escape the flames by utilizing the time-honoured method of climbing down knotted bed sheets, as per a report in the Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser dated Saturday 6th February 1847. Such was the dedication of those associated with its work by the end of March the hospital was again providing aid, all be it in a diminished capacity to the women of Manchester.In passing it is a curiosity to note that for a time prior to his death in 1845, Hugh Hornby Birley (of Peterloo infamy) was the chairman of the hospital’s trustees.

2) Miss Eleanora Atherton was an extremely wealthy woman, the inheritor of a vast amount of wealth from several family members A large sum being derived from sugar plantations in Jamaica previously owned by her slave-owning uncle, William Atherton. She was a noted philanthropist, endowing churches as well as hospitals and supporting the fine arts through her rôle with The British Institution. When she died on 12th September 1870 she left £400,000 (almost £40 million at today’s value) including bequest of £1,000 to St. Mary’s Hospital, one of many such charitable donations).

3) This building was the first to be designated as “St. Mary’s Hospital” as the annual general meeting of the charity’s board on Wednesday 10th January 1855 adopted the name “The St. Mary’s Hospital”.

Acknowledgements: - 

Architects of Greater Manchester 1800-1940 https://manchestervictorianarchitects.org.uk

And Our Manchester https://manchesterhistory.net

As well as usual sources Find My Past’s Newspaper Archive and Wikipedia