It comes after 10 fire crews were needed to put out a fire in the derelict building on Friday night.
The rumble of bulldozers, planned before the blaze, is set to come just shy of the orphanage’s 150th birthday, it having opened way back in 1872.
Several projects have been suggested over the 19 years since the site was vacated and now it looks like the future is secure with plans to turn the complex into luxury homes.
Here, an urban explorer has shared his visit to the site from December 2020. Pictures used with the permission of the Lost Places and Forgotten Faces Facebook page.
We were also granted access to the site back in 2018. You can view those pictures HERE
Several projects have been suggested over the 19 years since the site was vacated and now it looks like the future is secure with plans to turn the complex into luxury homes.
5. St Joseph's Orphanage
St Joseph's Hospital for the Sick and Poor, which eventually became Mount Street Private Hospital, opened in 1877. This is the old operating theatre. Photo: Lost Places and Forgotten Faces
6. St Joseph's Orphanage
Both the orphanage and hospital were built by wealthy widow Maria Holland who gave £10,000 for each project Photo: Lost Places and Forgotten Faces
7. St Joseph's Orphanage
Run by nuns from the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady Mother of Mercy, St Joseph's was the first welfare provider for Catholic girls in Preston, taking up to 60 youngsters at a time in two dormitories. Photo: Lost Places and Forgotten Faces
8. St Joseph's Orphanage
During its 82 years as an orphanage it looked after almost 1,000 children before it closed in 1954. Photo: Lost Places and Forgotten Faces