FOR Oxford families, the old Radcliffe Infirmary was the site of some of their happiest – and many of their darkest – moments.

The city’s first hospital, it opened in 1770 and was the scene for births, deaths and memories for more than 200 years.

Now demolished to make way for a vast new Oxford University complex, new photographs on show in Jericho capture the last moments of an Oxford landmark.

Freelance photographer Rob Judges, 61, from Horspath, said: “I just thought somebody needed to record this.

“So once a month for about a year, I would go in and take pictures of the buildings. I tried to capture the randomness of it all.”

The former Oxford Mail photographer was allowed on to the site by contractors and escorted round in a hard hat and fluorescent jacket.

It was a place he’d visited before – having been previously treated in the hospital for nose operations and a scan after being hit by a cricket ball.

He said: “It was part of Oxford’s history so it should be documented. But I don’t think people are sentimental about it, it’s just time moving on.”

The Radcliffe Infirmary closed in late 2007, with most services moving to the John Radcliffe Hospital.

The site is being transformed into a new £500m university quarter, with a maths institute, humanities building and school of government.

The original 1770 building remains, but work to demolish the other buildings started in August 2010.

Somerville College’s new £10m accommodation blocks, the first new buildings, were opened in September.

The redevelopment of the infirmary into a humanities building is due to be completed by April 2013.

Mr Judges said: “There were lots of little things, there was a red paper balloon on the floor of the empty childrens’ ward.

“And then in other rooms, there were messages written on the walls. Someone had chalked ‘We had a nice time here, goodbye’ on one wall.”

Other pictures show birds nesting in the former hospital, exposed wiring and smashed walls.

Mr Judges is continuing the story of the site, taking pictures of new buildings going up.

* The free exhibition opens at Art Jericho in King Street on Thursday and runs until March 23.