Barnes Hospital.

Barnes Hospital or Convalescent Home as its also known was built in 1871 and opened in 1875 for the reception and treatment of convalescent patients being transferred from the Manchester Royal Infirmary.

Barnes is the legacy of one Mr Robert Barnes of Manchester, born in 1800 Barnes was a remarkable man, he first trained as a lawyer then later realised the future was in textiles and along with his brother set up a spinning business which became very prosperous, in later life he donated vast amounts of money to charities, Barnes Hospital being one of them.

The building itself is of Gothic design created by architects Messrs, Blackwell and Booth of Manchester, the construction of the hospital was carried out by Messrs Thomas Clay & Sons of Audenshaw.

The site covers 46 acres and at the time cost £52,000 to build, half of the money was actually contributed by MR Barnes himself, because of this a bust was displayed in the main dining hall of the hospital as a mark of respect to him.

Barnes finally closed in 1999 as part of a £2 million cost-cutting exercise by the Manchester Healthcare Trust.

Since then the hospital has been left to decay and over the years has been stripped bare by Pikeys and thieves and at one point was used to house Kosovan refugees.

Inside little remains, and the building is merely a shadow of its former self even the clock tower which is the most striking feature is virtually beyond repair and is dangerous to say the least.

Plans where made some time ago to transform the grade 1 listed building into 42 apartments but this has been going on since 2001, the site still sits empty and exposed to the elements and continues to deteriorate even more.

Ive always had reservations about this place, mainly due to the fact that once you see past the grand exterior of the place its totally uninspiring.

Inside, the rooms are either decayed beyond belief or the floors are missing with nothing at all of interest to see, the closest way of describing the place really is an empty shell or bomb site?

The clock tower is also on par with the rest of the site, dangerous, rotten and dull! Its a shame really as ive heard that up until a few years ago this place was worth seeing and was in good condition.

Personally I didnt enjoy this place one bit and was actually glad to leave.