Royal Eye Infirmary

PLYMOUTH

SX4855 APSLEY ROAD, Plymouth 740-1/43/350 (North West side) Royal Eye Infirmary

II

Eye infirmary. 1897 by Charles King and EW Lister. Red brick with limestone dressings including string courses; tiled hipped roofs with crested ridges and bracketed eaves, the 2 roofs over the taller towers flanking the entrance bay with half-conical fronts. brick axial stacks with engaged shafts becoming oversailing courses as cornices; wide roof dormers at front and rear. Wide double-depth plan plus central and end cross wings. EXTERIOR: 2 storeys plus attic over basement; nearly symmetrical articulated unaltered entrance front with projecting 2-window-range cross wings at far left and right flanking similar cross wings broken forward from the main range with 3-window range on either side of 3-bay entrance with half-round towers. Central round-arched entrance doorway of 3 orders as porch to tripartite doorway with pair of glazed doors set back inside; 4-light moulded corbelled oriel over doorway. Towers each with 4 windows per floor including 2nd floor above bracketed string as continuation of eaves cornice. Remainder of front has round-arched openings to ground floor with tripartite or paired windows and 1st-floor windows with pediments on consoles and moulded sills on brackets except for canted 3-light oriels to centre of each 3-window range. Ground and 1st-floor front windows are sashes with glazing bars with the meeting rails behind transoms. 2nd-floor windows of towers are sashes with glazing bars within moulded architraves. Rear is 1:4:1:3-window range with round-arched openings to ground and 1st floors and tripartite windows to the 3 cross wings, the centre one bowed, the end windows canted. All the windows are original sashes with glazing bars except for 1st floor of central bay which has a C20 window. INTERIOR: not inspected but may be of interest. (The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Devon: London: 1989-: 660).

Listing NGR: SX4802655606