Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
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 fountain.
Designed to be a therapeutic, airy space for patients, it also hosted the 1868 National Exhibition of Works of Art.
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.
See the detailed photo of the decorative capital on my blog about this
friargatebridge.blogspot.com/2026/03/former-leeds-infirmary-winter-gardens.html
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).
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. The space is still there today, and is now known as the rose 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.
My source page 91 of second edition of "Works in Iron" by Ewing Matheson of the firm Andrew Handyside And Co., Engineers, Derby and London.
Hope you find my video of interest, if you do then please leave a comment.
Join my Andrew Handyside Facebook group to learn more : facebook.com/groups/andrewhandyside
And see my dedicated blog to their work :
friargatebridge.blogspot.com
Best viewed on a large computer screen or smart TV as this is recorded in 4K resolution with great music so a real waste watching it on a small phone screen. Did you know you can cast it to your smart tv from the YouTube app?
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Music Credits :
'Within Our Nature' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks
Andy
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 fountain.
Designed to be a therapeutic, airy space for patients, it also hosted the 1868 National Exhibition of Works of Art.
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.
See the detailed photo of the decorative capital on my blog about this
friargatebridge.blogspot.com/2026/03/former-leeds-infirmary-winter-gardens.html
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).
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. The space is still there today, and is now known as the rose 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.
My source page 91 of second edition of "Works in Iron" by Ewing Matheson of the firm Andrew Handyside And Co., Engineers, Derby and London.
Hope you find my video of interest, if you do then please leave a comment.
Join my Andrew Handyside Facebook group to learn more : facebook.com/groups/andrewhandyside
And see my dedicated blog to their work :
friargatebridge.blogspot.com
Best viewed on a large computer screen or smart TV as this is recorded in 4K resolution with great music so a real waste watching it on a small phone screen. Did you know you can cast it to your smart tv from the YouTube app?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music Credits :
'Within Our Nature' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks
Andy
