St Josephs Orphanage

St Joseph’s Orphanage, off Theatre Street, Preston. It has been damaged by rain, fires and break-ins since closing nearly a decade ago. A plan to convert the complex into flats has stalled in the economic crisis, leaving it to deteriorate over the past five years, while it has been on the market. It is currently listed on the Victorian Society’s ‘at-risk register’. St Joseph’s Orphanage was opened in 1872 on the site of an ancient alms house, and St Joseph’s Hospital for the Sick Poor followed five years later. They were built by wealthy widow Maria Holland, who gave £10,000 at a time when Preston had one of the worst mortality rates in the country, due to poor housing and low-paid mill workers. St Joseph’s Orphanage cared for 971 children before it closed in 1954. Run by the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady Mother of Mercy, the orphanage was the first welfare provider for Roman Catholic girls in Preston, taking in up to 60 youngsters at a time in two dormitories.After its closure, the top floor of the orphanage continued to serve as accommodation for the nuns who worked in St Joseph’s Hospital, known locally as Mount Street Hospital.
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