Salisbury Infirmary

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.[1] The Earl of Pembroke was nominated as visitor, the Earl of Radnor as president, and Robert Cooper as treasurer, while Dr Henry Hele and Dr Jacob were appointed as physicians.[2]

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 of Bath 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.[2] 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.[3]

A new outpatients department, dedicated to T. E. Lawrence, the British military officer, was opened in 1936.[4] The hospital joined the National Health Service in 1948.[1] The building was recorded as Grade II listed in 1972, under the name General Infirmary.[3]

It was in the intensive care unit at the Infirmary that the Thin Lizzy singer Phil Lynott died from an alcohol and drugs related illness in January 1986.[5] After services transferred to the Salisbury District Hospital in 1991 the Infirmary closed in 1993.[1] The building was converted for residential use in 1997.[6][7]