 The Infirmary
Look diagonally across the road and you'll
see the College of Art & Design with its Neo-Classical front and
portico. The College was originally the Infirmary for the town. Wrexham
held a bazaar to raise money for a new infirmary in 1837. They raised
the tidy sum of £1053 and the Infirmary opened a year later.
Health care was run very differently back then. Wealthy people gave
money and in return could recommend people for treatment. If you
gave a guinea a year, you could help 12 people including one in-patient
as long as you paid a 10 shillings 6 pence fee for board (bring
your own bed linen.) By 1860 the Infirmary was treating 2000 people
a
year. Not bad for then, but probably a week's work for a modern
GP surgery.
The Infirmary served as Wrexham's hospital until 1926, when it became
part of the Denbighshire Technical College. Since 1953 it has been
a successful Art College.
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