The Thatched House, Churchgate, Stockport, one of the town's oldest public houses, has a connection with Stockport Infirmary. Dr. James Briscall, it is recorded, set up the earliest Infirmary as a cottage dispensary in Churchgate, and it is thought that it was in this house, built during the reign of King James the first, that he carried out some of his benevolent efforts to relieve the sick and poor. This picture, taken in 1890, shows the building with a slate roof, but for a long time it lived up to its name by having a thatched roof.