The old Royal Salop Infirmary was constructed as a subscription hospital for the people of Shropshire in 1830. It served the community through cholera and flu epidemics, and of course through two major world wars. By 1915 crude steel and glass balconies had been added to the rear to allow Great War patients to enjoy the River view and the Second World War brought an operating theatre suite constructed on the roof. The closure in the mid 1970s due to the construction of a new hospital allowed the building to take on a new identity as the ‘Parade Shopping Centre’.
You can’t help but wonder about the hopes and fears of all those who walked, or were stretchered, up these steps over almost 150 years.