Building record 6943 - Victoria Infirmary, Winnington Street

<1> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 57639 (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

House, early nineteenth century altered and given by its owners the Verdin family for use as a hospital to commemorate Queen Victoria's jubilee. Cream ashlar; hipped grey slate roof. Two storeys, five windows, symmetrical front. Double doors of three fielded panels in classical round-arched case with looped radial-bar fanlight. Recessed sashes: formerly small-pane now four-pane. Two brick chimneys symmetrically placed on ridge. Slightly recessed cross-wing, right, has three-light sash to front in each storey, the upper one retaining small panes. Interior: Not inspected.

<2> Vale Royal Borough Council, 2006, Vale Royal Borough Council's List of Locally Important Buildings (Report). SCH5487.

<3> Vale Royal Borough Council, 1977-79, The Vale Royal Borough Council Historic Buildings Survey Index Card, NCH/HB 60 (Paper Archive). SCH5481.

Early nineteenth century (1820). Property owned by the Verdin family and on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Jubilee was donated as a hospital. Brick rendered on south elevation and east part. Interesting diagonal pattern of woodwork inside main door. Initials JB.JB on wall bracket in hall. Entrance three panel double doors. Large smooth stone in grounds interest unknown.

<4> See map for surveyor, c.1837-51, Cheshire Tithe Maps and Awards, EDT 436/2, date unknown (Maps and Plans). SCH3266.

Depicts two buildings. The plot is described as house, offices, gardens and land.

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1876, Metric Ten Foot Scale Town Plan of Northwich (Maps and Plans). SCH4488.

This map depicts the house, named Winnington Bank, with outbuildings to the north-west. The house is surrounded to the north, east and south by a small park, with more formal gardens to the north-west.

<6> Ordnance Survey, 1909-1912, Ordnance Survey Second Revision County Series (Epoch 3) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ6573, 1910 (Maps and Plans). SCH4361.

This map depicts the house with a large extension to the north. Labelled Infirmary.

<7> Hartwell C, Hyde M, Hubbard E & Pevsner N, 2011, The Buildings of England: Cheshire (2011 revision), p.515 (Book). SCH7059.

Modest early nineteenth century stone house given in 1887 by the Verdin family for use as an infirmary. Early twentieth century timbered wings.

<8> Cotswold Archaeology, 2021, Victoria Infirmary, Northwich, Cheshire: Historic Building Assessment, R4646 (Client Report). SCH9310.

A Heritage Assessment was produced in 2021 for the Victoria Infirmary, the study includes the Grade II Listed Victoria Infirmary Old Wing and later extensions, the early-20th century wing to the north-east of the Listed Building and the detached lodge building at the main entrance, both of which are Locally Listed Buildings. The Old Wing is significant as a relatively unaltered early-19th century dwelling, with historic interest deriving from the change of use of the building to a hospital in the late-19th century. The Site falls within Winnington, a township within the historic parish of Great Budworth. The locality developed over the course of the 19th century as a result of the growing prosperity of the town during this period as a result of its significant salt mining industry. This led to the expansion of the town and the construction of large, detached, villas in spacious grounds. The development of the Site was part of this process, with a detached house constructed within the Site in the early-19th century.

The 1845 Winnington Tithe Map is the earliest available cartographic source to depict the Site in detail. The map shows the Site as being split between Plots 58 and 59, owned and occupied by Thomas J.B Hostage, as recorded in the Apportionment. Plot 59 was in use as House, Offices, Gardens and Land, and Plot 58 as House, Office, Gardens and Land, encompassing an area of 4 acres, and 31 perches. The map depicts buildings within Plot 59, an inverted L-shaped structure with a rectangular shaped, smaller structure to the north. The grounds were entered via a drive leading southwards from Winnington Lane towards the eastern elevation of the L-shaped building, with a circular carriage terminating in front of the principal, eastern elevation. The L-shaped structure appears to correspond with the extant Listed Building, comprising of a 5-bay range, with a recessed cross wing against the northern elevation.

The 1877 to 1880 Ordnance Survey map labels the main building within the Site as ‘Winnington Bank’. It is depicted as an irregular shaped structure with a rectangular range to the south-east with two projecting ranges of differing length projecting to the rear, to the north-west. The building depicted on the Tithe Map appears to have been extended, with the main south-western range and two northern- western ranges representing the extended early to mid-19th century building. In addition, the two structures at the northern extent of the building appear to correspond with the extant cross-wing. A glass house structure is depicted against the south-western corner of the building. To the north-west of the building a walled enclosure is depicted, representing a probable kitchen garden. Two small square shaped structures are situated against the interior of the southern wall of this enclosure. A rectangular building with a glazed structure along its western wall is depicted to the west of the main entrance and is labelled as a lodge (CHER 5848).

The Cheshire Record Office holds a copy of the sales particulars for the Winnington Bank Estate, dating to 1884. The auction resulted in the purchase of the Winnington Bank Estate by Robert Verdin MP, a local salt manufacturer and philanthropist who lived at the Brockhurst in Leftwich. In 1887 a meeting was held to confirm the desirability of commemorating the Queen’s Jubilee (Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee) and Robert Verdin communicated his ‘intention to confer upon his local town a great and lasting boon in the shape of a public park and recreation ground, baths and an infirmary’. The cost of this was funded by the wealth of the Verdin family through the family salt business, with the company of Joseph Verdin and Sons owning six salt plants in the region and employing over 1000 people. The Victoria Infirmary, Verdin Park and Verdin Baths (demolished in 1912) were opened on the 12 October 1887.