Former Leeds Infirmary Winter Gardens made by Andrew Handyside 1868

Andrew Handyside Ltd of Derby who made Friargate bridge also made lots of roofs for buildings around the world, here is one such example.

The Former Leeds Infirmary Winter Gardens 1868

In this short video I have used A.I. to resurrect some old photographs and illustrations of the former Leeds infirmary winter gardens.

The Leeds General Infirmary Winter Garden was a magnificent, glass-roofed central courtyard built in 1868, inspired by London's Crystal Palace, featuring gothic-style arches, exotic plants, and a Andrew Handyside fountain.

Designed to be a therapeutic, airy space for patients, it also hosted the 1868 National Exhibition of Works of Art.

Known officially as the Central Court, it was a big part of the hospital’s early years, hosting the official opening of the building on 30 May 1869 by HRH The Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII on 1901).

The impressive roof structure was 151 feet long, 63 feet wide and 60 feet high and featured 150 tons of ironwork, all made in Derby by Andrew Handyside Ltd.

The construction of this building is peculiar, involving no “thrust” upon the walls; the main roof, which is really carried by the four corner rafters, having its thrust taken by the parallelogram of lattice girders connecting the heads of the twelve columns.

Page 89 of the 1868 second edition "Works in Iron by Andrew Handyside & Co, Britannia Iron Works, Derby states that type N cast-iron capitals were used on the 12 support columns in Leeds Winter Gardens :

In 1911 the roof, which had created significant maintenance problems, was dismantled, but the space remained in use as an open-air tennis court as late as 1963

Today this area is known as Leeds Wellbeing Garden.

A real shame the roof only lasted 43 years before being demolished but I hope my video gives a sense of what it looked like at the time.

My source reference :
Page 91 of the 1868 second edition "Works in Iron by Andrew Handyside & Co, Britannia Iron Works, Derby and 32 Walkbrook, London. Published by E.&F.N. Spon 48 Charing Cross."

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Andy