In the year 1863 this was started as a Charity at a small house in Crown Street but however it was soon apparent that not only did a real want, but a greater want, exist in Liverpool for such an Institution and so larger premises were taken in Soho Street.
After a few years these in their turn were found insufficient and so the premises occupied in Mount Pleasant were secured and good work was done, not withstanding the fact that the premises were quite unsuitable for carrying out the treatment of the great scourge of Consumption. The Committee contemplated the re-building of these premises but it was hoped a new Hospital in Mount Pleasant would be ready for occupation by June 1904. The new building at Mount Pleasant was indeed opened in 1904 and later became the Liverpool Chest Hospital before closing down in 1964.
In their Second Annual Report of 1864 the then Honorary Medical Staff had reported to the board of management: - 'We feel convinced that unspeakable benefit would arise from the transfer of some of our patients to a Sanatorium outside of Liverpool, and easily approached by rail. This at present may be beyond your means but we trust the time will shortly arrive when we may have the power to offer such a boon to those really requiring it.'
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| Patients’ wooden shelters in the grounds |
Owing to the many claims upon the citizens for other, and which were considered more urgent and immediate demands, the committee were unable to carry out such a venture until the year 1901, when the President (the late William Rathbone) received an intimation from two respected citizens to jointly bear the entire cost of erecting a Sanatorium in the country as an adjunct to the Mount Pleasant Hospital.
The munificent offer was most gladly availed of and so there stood erected the first public Sanatorium in connection with a Philanthropic Institution in England. Thus Liverpool led the way in this connection.
It was beautifully situated on 'Rough Hill' in the Parish of Kingswood, Delamere Forest and commanded delightful views.
A description of the hospital on the 18th of October 1901: 'It affords 75 beds. Divine services are
held at the sanatorium by Church of England and Free Church ministers
during alternate weeks and by a Roman
Catholic chaplain monthly.' Accommodation was provided for forty patients
but this fell far short of the number of applicants who sought
admission and a new wing providing for twenty persons was erected.' Crossley
Hospital, located at New Pale Road, Kingswood, Cheshire was part of the
old West Cheshire Hospital Management Committee Rural Sector and was
made up of two units built at Kingswood to treat
tuberculosis which was prevalent in the nearby industrial cities at that
time. Besides Crossley West, which was built by Liverpool City
Council for TB patients, and known as Liverpool Sanatorium, there was
also Crossley East, known as the Manchester Sanatorium, built in 1903 and opened for TB patients funded by Sir William
Crossley, part of the Crossley Carpet/Motor family from Manchester.
In 1934, Kelly’s Directory for Cheshire recorded that Alfred Adams MD DPH (Liverpool) was medical superintendent
and Miss Helen Roberts was matron. 'The Liverpool Sanatorium for the open air treatment of consumption, situated here, in grounds of
some forty acres, with a south-west aspect and at a height of 500 feet above the sea level, overlooking the
valleys of the Dee and Mersey, the city of Chester and the Welsh hills, is a fine structure of red brick with
sandstone facings, erected at a cost of £15,000, defrayed by the late Lady Willox and Sir W. P. Hartley,
of Southport, and opened by the Countess of Derby,
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| Ladies at Crossley Sanatorium, 1915 |
Both hospitals had their own medical superintendents and houses for nurses and other staff. Apparently patients were encouraged to be mobile and not confined to bed They fed in the main dining halls and were encouraged to take walks in the grounds.
see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2025/03/liverpool-hospitals-liverpool-radium.html
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