MOOR HOSPITAL, BLOCKS 40,41,42,44 AND 46

The Moor Hospital comprises several blocks, specifically Blocks 40, 41, 42, 44, and 46, forming the 'Old Side' of the hospital. Built as a county lunatic asylum in 1816, it was extended in stages until around 1850. The architecture is sandstone ashlar with hipped slate roofs, now covered with asbestos sheeting.

The original design featured a U-shaped block of 1816, with a five-bay north-facing centre and five-bay wings extending to either side. Rear wings, projecting south from these wings, contained eighteen bays. Subsequent additions included projecting eleven-bay wings to the south (circa 1840) and further eleven-bay wings projecting north from the original facade (circa 1850).

The main facade features a slightly projecting central two-storey section with an attic above a basement, highlighted by a four-column Tuscan Doric portico. The pediment of the portico bears the inscription 'MDCCCXVI' (1816). The building has an eaves cornice and two chimney stacks, each containing sixteen flues. The basement and ground floor exhibit chamfered rustication topped by a pulvinated frieze, which serves as a sill band for the second-floor windows. A triglyph frieze continues as a deep band across the outer bays. Ground floor openings have semicircular heads, although recessed windows feature flat lintels and the doorway has a fanlight. The majority of windows are sash windows with twelve and six panes.

The side wings, each two storeys high, feature a plain band separating the floors and windows with plain reveals. A tripartite window on each floor illuminates the long corridor of the rear wings in the fourth bay from the centre on each side. The north-projecting wings of eleven bays have a three-bay central projection and a four-bay projection at the outer end; their northern facades are each five bays wide. The right-hand facade (Block 40) includes altered window joinery, blocked window openings in the outer bays, and a central doorway with flanking pilasters and lights. The left-hand facade retains its original glazing bar sashes. The tripartite central window on the first floor of this facade features pilasters as mullions and blind outer lights. The central doorway has an architrave, flanking lights, pilasters, and a triglyph frieze, complemented by a projecting Tuscan porch with a blocking course above the cornice.