User:Dumelow/Former Huddersfield Infirmary building



Opened 1831, built by public subscription following concern for the number of industrial accidents in the town. Architect was John Oates. Grand entrance was modelled on a Greek temple. Oates discovered his builder had used inferior stone for part of the work and ordered it replaced. South wing added in 1861, north in 1874, Carisle wing in 1898 and an art-deco style extension in 1934. Closed as a hospital in the mid 1960s, with Huddersfield Royal Infirmary formally opening in 1967. The old site was purchased by Ramsden Technical College (later merged into Kirklees College). They left the site in 2013. The main building is in poor repair, it is insecure and has a leaking roof and several structural problems. Kirklees council's head of planning and development, David Wordsworth, states that the main building is "an impressive centrepiece for a complex of structures which help tell the story of healthcare development and the civic character of Huddersfield". Councillors ignored Wordsworth's advice and approved a 2018 plan by Trinity One LLP to redevelop the site to build a new Lidl supermarket and sell the remainder for residential development, with outline permission for 229 apartments. As well as 1960s and 1970s blocks of lower value many of the former hospital buildings will be cleared. Opposed by Huddersfiueld Civic SOciety. The Georgian Society saud that th eloss of buildings will damage the setting og the Greenhead Park conservation area to the north and that of the retained, listed portion of the hospital site. Wordsworth proposed that the planning permission require the infirmary be made waterproof but the approval required this to happen only within 9 months of the start of work on the site. Trinity One say work to protect the infirmary is imminent.

https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/heritage-at-risk/search-register/list-entry/200462

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1287154?section=official-list-entry

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/history/gallery/inside-derelict-huddersfield-infirmary-abandoned-19683899

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/huddersfields-crumbling-1800s-infirmary-building-22218271

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/ex-kirklees-college-site-owner-17845214

https://huddersfieldhub.co.uk/councillors-back-43-million-plans-for-eyesore-former-kirklees-college-site-which-has-shamed-huddersfield-for-too-long/