The Salisbury Infirmary was a hospital at Fisherton Street in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

, Wiltshire, England, from 1767 until 1993.

History

The Salisbury Infirmary had a long history as a hospital. The first Lord Feversham, who died in 1763, left a sum of £500 towards the establishment of a county hospital and at a general meeting on 23 September 1766 a committee was established. The

Earl of Pembroke Earl of Pembroke is a title in the Peerage of England that was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title, which is associated with Pembroke, Pembrokeshire in West Wales, has been recreated ten times from its orig ...

was nominated as visitor, the

Earl of Radnor Earl of Radnor, in the County of Wiltshire, is a title which has been created twice. It was first created in the Peerage of England in 1679 for John Robartes, 2nd Baron Robartes, a notable political figure of the reign of Charles II. The ea ...

as president, and Robert Cooper as treasurer, while Dr

Henry Hele Henry Hele (1688/89–1778) was an English physician, who became a substantial landowner in Wiltshire and Somerset. Origins Hele was the son of Richard Hele, of the Close, Salisbury, who in his will dated 1704, proved in 1706, described himself ...

and Dr Jacob were appointed as physicians. Richard Hoare, ''History of Modern Wiltshire'', Volume VI, ''City of Salisbury'' (ed. Benson and Hatcher), London 1843 A site was purchased and the existing houses on it were opened for the reception of patients on 2 May 1767. Meanwhile, plans were drawn up by

John Wood, the Younger John Wood, the Younger (25 February 1728 – 18 June 1782) was an English architect, working principally in the city of Bath, Somerset. He was the son of the architect John Wood, the Elder. His designs were highly influential during the 18t ...

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

for a new four-storey building on the site with over 100 beds. When the new red-brick building was completed and opened in 1771, the existing houses were removed. The hospital was later much enlarged, with a wing added on one side in 1845 and the other side in 1869, and further 20th-century extensions.

Alfred Buckley Alfred Buckley (13 October 1829 – 15 December 1900) was an English first-class cricketer. The son of the politician Edward Pery Buckley, he was born in October 1829 at the family home New Hall at Bodenham, Wiltshire. He was educated at Eto ...

was the chairman of the infirmary for 13 years in the late 19th-century. A new outpatients department, dedicated to

T. E. Lawrence Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–19 ...

, the British military officer, was opened in 1936. The hospital joined the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

in 1948. The building was recorded as

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

in 1972, under the name General Infirmary. It was in the

intensive care unit 220px, Intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensi ...

at the Infirmary that the

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or s ...

singer

Phil Lynott Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish singer, bassist, and songwriter. His most commercially successful group was Thin Lizzy, of which he was a founding member, the principal songwriter, lead vocalist and ba ...

died from an alcohol and drugs related illness in January 1986. After services transferred to the

Salisbury District Hospital Salisbury District Hospital is a large hospital on Odstock Road, Britford, Wiltshire, England, about south of the centre of the city of Salisbury. It is managed by the Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust. History The first Odstock Hospital was co ...

in 1991 the Infirmary closed in 1993. The building was converted for residential use in 1997.

Notable Staff

* Adeline Elizabeth Cable A RRC (1864-1945), Matron from October 1907 until her retirement in August 1925. Cable trained at

The London Hospital The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and Tower Hamlets and sp ...

under Eva Luckes, and had served in the Second Anglo Boer War. During her tenure her nursing staff increased from 30- 60, she oversaw the opening of a new ophthalmic ward, balconies for all the wards, a new nurses home and outpatients department.Rogers, Sarah (2022). 'A Maker of Matrons’? A study of Eva Lückes’s influence on a generation of nurse leaders:1880–1919' (Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Huddersfield, April 2022)

References

{{authority control Georgian architecture in Wiltshire Defunct hospitals in England Hospital buildings completed in the 18th century Hospitals in Wiltshire 1767 establishments in England Grade II listed buildings in Wiltshire