The Former Phillipson Memorial Orphanage At Princess Mary Maternity Hospital

The former Phillipson Memorial Orphanage, now vacant and part of the Princess Mary Maternity Hospital, was built in 1873, with later alterations and additions in the 20th century. It was designed by Geo T Redmayne and donated by Ralph Clark Phillipson. The building is constructed of buff brick with red brick and ashlar dressings, and has roofs covered in Westmoreland slate, with terracotta ridge tiles and ashlar coped gables. It features a chamfered ashlar plinth and a first-floor ashlar sill band. The building is two stories and has an attic.

The main west front has six windows, arranged 3:1:1:1, with a centrally placed projecting gabled wing and a projecting tower to the right, both featuring angle buttresses. The wing’s two round-headed, three-light windows with glazing bars are partially masked by a 20th-century addition. Single, similar windows are on the side returns. To the left of the wing are three more round-headed, three-light windows; to the right, a similar window is positioned before the tower. The tower’s round-arched doorway is also masked by a 20th-century addition. Above the wing, there’s a triple glazing bar sash window with a triple-banded, pointed arched head, and similar double glazing bar sashes to the returns. Above that are three similar double windows to the left and a double window to the right. The attic-level windows include a triple glazing bar sash under a semi-circular relieving arch with polychromatic decoration, with single gabled through-eaves dormer windows with glazing bar sashes on the returns. To the left are a double and two single gabled dormer windows; to the right, one similar double dormer window. The tower to the right features a triple lancet window on the first floor with a centrally placed canopied light. Above this are three narrow windows. The bell stage has three round-headed, double chamfered and louvred bell openings on each face, topped with a saddle-back tower with dormers.

The south front features a projecting gabled wing with a canted bay window on the ground floor and, above it, two sashes with pointed arch heads. Above these is a pair of sashes under a semi-circular relieving arch with polychromatic decoration.

The interior retains the original cantilever staircase with iron balustrade, original wooden doors and door surrounds, chamfered ceiling beams, and some exposed roof trusses. The building is an early example of the Domestic Revival or Queen Anne Revival style. The 20th-century flat-roofed additions are not considered to be of special interest.