Cumberland Infirmary

Cumberland Infirmary is a hospital built between 1830 and 1832 for subscribers, designed by Richard Tattersall, with early 20th-century alterations and additions. The building features limestone or sandstone ashlar from a quarry near Leeds, with a rusticated ground floor on a chamfered plinth, string courses, angle pilasters, a solid parapet, and finials. It has a graduated greenslate roof and rebuilt ashlar ridge chimney stacks. Originally two stories with a basement and eleven bays, a third story was added in 1933. The three central bays are slightly raised and include central double doors with a patterned overlight, accessed by steps, and framed by a top glazed tetrastyle Greek Doric portico with a wreathed frieze. Each end bay also projects and has angle pilasters. The building has sash windows with glazing bars set in stone architraves, while the added storey features small sash windows in stone reveals. The interior has been extensively altered. For further details, refer to Pevsner (1967) and Cornforth in Country Life (1978) for illustrations, and Galloway (1982) for historical context. Previous descriptions mistakenly attribute the design to Robert Tattersall, but Colvin (1978) correctly identifies Richard Tattersall as the architect.