Alnwick Infirmary was founded in 1815, and was initially based in Fenkle Street. It moved to Wingrove House in 1819, after this was bought from William Bolton for £900. By 1850 this provided wards as well as a dispensary, and it remained Alnwick's principal hospital until the current infirmary was opened in 1908.
From Wilson's Lecure: "A short distance from the north end of Dispensary Street, formerly called the Backway, stands the Infirmary, originally founded as a Dispensary. The land on which it stands was purchased and the house built at the beginning of the present century by William
Barber, the brewer, and in 1810 the property was sold toWilliam Bolton, from whose representatives it was purchased for a Dispensary in the year 1819. Having been originally constructed for a private residence it is, in many respects, ill adapted for its present requirements. Efforts, however, are now being made to remedy what is found to be defective, and it would indeed be a great misfortune should any difference of opinion
on minor points prevent a united action on the part of the governors, in carrying out so laudable an object."