668 



DERBY. 



Derby. 



Coun-v 

 hall. 



Gaol. 



Assembly, 

 room. 



Theatre. 



General iiv 

 firmary. 



town-hall, a county gaol, an elegant assembly-room, 

 a theatre, and an infirmary. The county-hall was 

 erected in l660, and is a large heavy building of stone. 

 The town-hall is a handsome structure of brick, built 

 by the corporation about the year 1731. The county 

 gaol, is situated on the western side of the town, near 

 the upper end of Friar-gate. It was erected in the 

 year 1 756, at the expence of the county, aided by a 

 donation of L.400 presented by the Duke of Devon- 

 shire. It is a solid plain building of brick, well adapt- 

 ed for the purpose of its destination. The assembly- 

 room is an elegant building of stone, situated in the 

 market-place. Its erection was completed in 1774. 

 The theatre is a neat building of brick, with an in- 

 terior plain and commodious. It was erected by a pri- 

 vate individual, in the year 1773. ' 



The erection of the Derbyshire general infirmary,* 

 was commenced in the spring of the year 1 805, and the 

 building was completed for the reception of patients on 

 the 4th June, 1810. 



The site of the building is at a short distance from 

 the town of Derby, immediately adjoining the London 

 road, from which it forms a very good object, greatly 

 improving that entrance into the town. 



The ground plan is a square, the side of which is 

 about 100 feet. The sides are not in the same straight 

 line. If we suppose each side divided into three equal 

 portions, the middle portion of each side stands within 

 the other portions about eight feet, so that the walls of 

 the latter are distant eighty-four feet on each side, and 

 the walls of the projecting portions one hundred feet. 

 The floor of the basement story is three feet below the 

 surface of the land on which the building is erected, 

 and the second story eight feet and a half above the 

 same. The entrance into the latter is by a right and 

 left flight of steps terminating in a portico, after the 

 model of the Parthenon on the Acropolis at Athens. 

 This entrance is into a spacious hall, not less than 34 

 feet square. The apartments on this floor are, the 

 board-room on the left side of the entrance, and the 

 matron's room on the right. On the left side of the 

 hall are the apothecary's rooms, the apothecary's shop, 

 and the out-patients' room ; the latter is also employ- 

 ed as the chapel. On the right side of the hall, are 

 the physicians and surgeons rooms, and the porter's 

 rooms. 



From the centre of the hall, and facing the entrance, 

 the stair case commences. It first rises to a landing, 

 which is joined to the opposite wall ; it then divides 

 into a right and left flight of steps, which occupy one 

 side of the hall, and lead each way to a gallery or bal- 

 cony, projecting six feet within the hall, on the other 

 three sides. From the centre of the front balcony, is 

 the entrance into the operating room, which is directly 

 over the entrance below. It is well lighted, and every 

 way fitted for its intended purpose. 



All the other rooms on the right and left are divided 

 into wards of various sizes. The left side is for the 

 males, and the right side for the females, each apart- 

 ment on one side being precisely similar to that on the 

 other. 



Those wards nearest to the operating room are small, 

 each containing one bed only. Others, adjacent, con- 

 tain two beds. In the centre of these small wards is a 



small room, called the nurae'3 scullery. It contains a 

 small stove and other conveniences. Adjacent to this 

 is the nurse's bed room. This part, which is on each 

 side the same, is destined for acute diseases, in which 

 the stilness and privacy afforded by this arrangement, 

 are of great importance. The rest of the wards are larger, 

 and contain more beds, as the cases require. On the 

 same floor, on each side, is a spacious room, one for the 

 males, the other for the females. These are called con- 

 valescent rooms. They are for the reception of all the 

 patients who are not immediately confined to their bed- 

 rooms. This constitutes the third and last story. 



The hall is lighted by a skylight, which forms a 

 dome in the centre of the building. The rest of the 

 roof, which covers the rooms, slopes towards the cor- 

 nice on one side, and towards the dome on the other, 

 the ridge being over the middle of the range of rooms 

 on each side. 



The dome is made of cast iron, put together in seg- 

 ments. On the centre is placed a round pedestal of 

 stone, upon which stands a colossal figure of Escula- 

 pius, modelled in clay, by a Mr Coffee of this place. 



A portion of the back part of the house, from the 

 basement story upwards, is kept completely distinct 

 from the rest, constituting fever wards. This part has 

 in no respect whatever any communication with the 

 rest of the house ; and has, hitherto, been as successful 

 in preventing the communication of contagion, as if it 

 were at a greater distance. 



The basement story contains the kitchen, the scullery, 

 the wash-house, and the laundry. It has a separate en- 

 trance from the front, under the portico of the story 

 above, on each side of which is a public bath, one being 

 kept at the heat of Buxton water, and the other of that 

 of Matlock. There are five spacious baths, elegantly 

 fitted up, which bring a handsome income to the charity. 

 They are heated by steam, which is brought in pipes 

 from the boiler of a steam engine of one horse power, 

 which is employed to pump water from a well below 

 into a cistern at the top of the house, and to perform 

 a variety of other offices connected with the economy 

 of the establishment. The kitchen is a pattern for neat- 

 ness and convenience. The fire place in it is not larger 

 than to keep the room comfortably warm, and is not 

 employed for any culinary purpose. The baking and 

 roasting is performed by an oven on very superior prin- 

 ciples, invented by Mr W. Strutt of this place. It is ss 

 contrived, that the greatest possible proportion of the 

 heat is applied to the body contained in it, while no 

 part of it comes into the room. The principal advan- 

 tage, however, of this invention, consists in the heat be- 

 ing applied equally on every side of the substance at 

 the same time, so that the door of the oven is never 

 opened for the purpose of turning what may be con- 

 tained in it. 



Near to the roaster is a steaming apparatus, invented 

 also by Mr Strutt, and applicable to all culinary pur- 

 poses. A recess is made in the wall similar to that for 

 stoves in common use. The bottom of this recess is 

 formed by a flat piece of cast metal, capable of holding 

 the number of dishes intended to be steamed. Round 

 this, is a groove filled to a certain height with water. 

 The whole is covered by an inverted vessel of tinned 

 copper, in the form of a dish cover, the edges of which 



Derby. 



General in. 

 firmary. 



* As we consider the Infirmary of Derby to be one of the most complete establishments of the kind in Europe, we have deviated 

 from our general plan, in giving a very minute account of a building which reflects equal honour upon the liberality of the town, and 

 the skill of the gentlemen under whose superintendence it was completed. Ed. 



