Withington Hospital
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Withington Hospital was originally known as Chorlton Barlow Moor Workhouse and was built in 1854. In 1910 it was renamed Withington Hospital but when WWI broke out the military took up residence as they did with most major hospital sites at the time.
During WWI the hospital was also known as Nell Lane Military Hospital. Up until 1970 the site also housed a cemetary which dated back to the work house days, which was later relocated to Southern Cemetary in Chorlton.
The hospital resumed its original function in 1948 when the National Health Service was founded.
Since the 1970s the size of Withington Hospital has grown considerably. At present its currently a university teaching hospital covering all forms of medicine and health work.
The hospital has been relocating units and wards for some time now to other locations through out the borough, mainly all operations are being transferred to the newly built Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) in central Manchester.
The site is still very much active but certain buildings and wards are now vacant, derelict and in some cases in bad states of decay.
Inside is a maze corridors and consultation rooms, all the corridors are alike and if not paying attention its very easy to miss something or lose your way.
The majority of the site is vandalized beyond belief which is surprising considering it sits in the middle of the active section of the hospital.
Saying that though the hospital is situated in one of the less desirable residential areas in Manchester which would probably account for its heavy vandalism.
A shame really as there is some nice features inside the buildings.
The highlight in my opinion was accessing the roof, even though it was cold and raining and not that high it was still worth the effort. That and seeing what looked like CAT scan units scattered around the site.
Hidden deep in the centre of the site there was also a swimming pool with lifts to assisst disabled patients into the water. We also found a gym and various other random objects which varied from ECG machines to computers all sorts of medical equipment and of course stacks and stacks of paper work.
An interesting site this one but it rarely gets explored which is strange considering whats left.
