Blackburn Royal Infirmary was opened in 1864 and closed in
2006.
Building started in 1856 with funding given by then mayor
William Pilkington, and former land owner, Joseph Fielden. When the
hospital was opened in 1864, it had just 32 beds. It wasn’t
known as “Royal” until 1914 when King George V decreed
it to be called “The Blackburn and East Lancashire Royal
Infirmary”.
Over the years, the hospital received many extensions, the
largest being after the First World War. When the town was looking
for a suitable memorial, it was agreed that the best memorial would
be one which would benefit the people of the town. The result was
the War Memorial Wing, paid for by donations and taxes from the
workers and businesses from across East Lancashire.
Years later, it was decided that the Royal Infirmary was not big
enough for it’s purpose, but with no more room for expansion,
services were moved to Queens Park Hospital. Eventually, in 2006,
the Royal Infirmary was closed down. Queens Park Hospital was
renamed The Royal Blackburn Hospital and now serves the borough and
has replaced other services across East Lancashire. The former
Royal Infirmary site was bought by housing developers. It was
decided that the original building had no place in the development
and was knocked down. The only part that now remains is the War
Memorial Wing which stands empty and run down as the recent
recession has delayed development of the site.
