Monument record 15259 - 9 Park Street, Congleton. Formerly Congleton Cottage Hospital

<1> See map for surveyor, c.1837-51, Cheshire Tithe Maps and Awards, 1845 (Maps and Plans). SCH3266.

9 Park Street is depicted on the Tithe Map for Congleton of 1845, however, no corresponding plot details are recorded.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1871-1882, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire (Maps and Plans). SCH2462.

9 Park Street depicted on Ordnance Survey first, second and third Ordnance Survey 1:25 inch historical maps. The building is labelled 'Cottage Hospital' on the third edition. (sources 2-4)

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1896-1898, Ordnance Survey First Revision County Series (Epoch 2) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire (Maps and Plans). SCH3848.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1909-1912, Ordnance Survey Second Revision County Series (Epoch 3) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire (Maps and Plans). SCH4361.

<5> Historic England, 2011, The National Heritage List for England, 1130475 (Web Site). SCH6528.

SC PARK STREET No 9 (Formerly listed as Cheshire County Council Social Services Area Office).
Grade II Listed. Early C19. Red brick; 2 storeys; 3 sash windows with flat brick arches and stone sills; moulded wood pilaster doorcase with open pediment, radial fanlight and 6-panelled door; plain eaves; hipped slate roof.

<6> Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME), 1999, English Hospitals 1660 - 1948. A Survey of their Architecture and Design (Book). SCH4569.

Congleton Cottage Hospital is included in the gazeteer of a volume 'English Hospitals 1660-1948' which was published as part of a survey of hospital buildings undertaken in 1991-5 by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME). The project also resulted in a large body of work deposited in Historic England’s archives at Swindon.
The hospital opened in 1866 with 6 beds in a town house of c.1830. Subsequent additions included an operating theatre built 1895-7 to designs by C Russell Hall, and a new mortuary built in 1919. It closed in 1924 when the new Congleton War Memorial Hospital was opened. (National Monuments Record Number: NMR Number SJ 86 SE 24. Heritage Gateway – HobUID 1068539).

<7> Congleton Town Council, Various, Congleton Town Council (Web Site). SCH9004.

https://www.congleton-tc.gov.uk/discover-congleton/congleton-heritage-trail/the-cottage-hospital/
Located in Park Street, the original Cottage hospital was established in 1866 in a building that has a Georgian front elevation. Congleton was enjoying the prosperous times of the Victorian boom. The town had a long tradition in trade and manufacture and the Victorian period saw population growth and a rise in living standards for many people. The principle of “mens sana in corpore sano” or “a healthy mind in a healthy body” fitted well with Victorian ideals. So also was the idea of charitable giving.
Eleanor Lowe of Moody Terrace, who enjoyed a comfortable income from capital inherited from her father, donated regularly to the Cottage Hospital. A new hospital, The War Memorial Hospital on Canal Street was opened by George VI (Duke of York) in 1924 and the Cottage Hospital building was put to other uses being occupied by the Divisional Medical Office and now being occupied by a commercial enterprise.
The hospital had beds for eight patients and if you stand in the adjacent car park, you can see the glass atrium roof. This was not there for decorative purposes, but rather it gave light to the operating table that was directly below it.
(This web page also features a contemporary postcard of the hospital)