Between 1864 and 1869, a new workhouse was constructed on Rice Lane, Walton-on-the-Hill, to serve the northern district of the West Derby Poor Law Union. Designed by the Liverpool architect William Culshaw—who also designed the Toxteth Park Workhouse on Smithdown Road (later Sefton General Hospital, another Beatles' location)—the institution was built at a total cost of approximately £65,000, including the purchase of its 37-acre site from Lord Sefton.
Initially, the workhouse was designed to accommodate around 1,200 inmates. A contemporary newspaper account described the scale and ambitions of the new institution:
"The grounds extend over an area of 37 acres, and it is intended to devote a great portion of the land to cultivation, so as to afford useful employment for the inmates. At either end of the building are hospitals for male and female inmates, and it is intended immediately to proceed with the laying out of a cemetery and the erection of a church. The main building is already nearly full; and it is probable that in course of time the accommodation will not be too much for the numerous poor chargeable to the rates of the West Derby Union. Messrs. Culshaw and Sumners are the architects, and Mr. James Walters, the builder."
Like many Victorian workhouses, the institution expanded steadily in response to increasing demand. By 1930 it could accommodate approximately 2,500 inmates. The principal building comprised a long three-storey, T-shaped block, with male inmates housed in the eastern wing and female inmates in the western wing. During the twentieth century, the workhouse was progressively transformed into a healthcare institution, first becoming Walton Institution and later forming part of Walton Hospital.
Mary's Boy Child
The hospital is closely associated with the early life of Paul McCartney, who was born there on 18 June 1942.
His mother, Mary Patricia McCartney (née Mohin), entered the nursing profession in her twenties. It has often been suggested that her decision to pursue a career in nursing was influenced by the death of her own mother during childbirth. She undertook her training at Alder Hey Children's Hospital before transferring to Walton Hospital, where she specialised in midwifery and eventually became a maternity ward sister.
At the outbreak of the Second World War, Mary remained a senior member of the maternity staff at Walton Hospital. When she returned as a patient for the birth of her first child, her colleagues ensured that she received the five-star treatment, arranging for her to stay in a private room for the delivery—a privilege that reflected the esteem in which she was held by the hospital staff.
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| A photograph of Mary McCartney used as the front cover of her son Mike's first solo album, "Woman" released in February 1972 |
Paul's birth was difficult. He was born suffering from white asphyxia, a condition in which a newborn fails to establish effective breathing and appears pale owing to inadequate oxygenation. Emergency resuscitation measures, including mouth-to-mouth ventilation and cardiac massage, were required before he began breathing independently.
His father, James McCartney, later recalled his first impressions of his newborn son:
"He looked awful. I couldn't get over it. Horrible. He had one eye open, and he just squawked all the time. They held him up and he looked like a horrible piece of red meat. When I got home I cried, the first time for years and years.
But the next day he looked more human and every day after that he got better and better. He turned out a lovely baby in the end."
— James McCartney, The Beatles by Hunter Davies.
- Liverpool Echo, 18 June 1942. Baby McCartney is announced in the births column
The baby was named James Paul McCartney, James after his father, and Paul likely from Paul Clegg, his great-grandfather, though this has never been confirmed.
Eighteen months later, the McCartneys' second son, Peter Michael McCartney, was also born at Walton Hospital, on 7 January 1944.
The hospital continued to serve Liverpool for much of the twentieth century before closing permanently in December 2010. Its historic buildings have since been redeveloped for residential use.
walton hosiptal my mum worked there has a nurse from 1972 untill 1986
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