Ellen Wilkinson High School was housed, until it closed in 2000, in a Grade II* listed building in Ardwick, Manchester, England, designed in 1865–67 by the prolific Manchester architect Thomas Worthington. Formerly known as Nicholls Hospital, the building was funded by Benjamin Nicholls as a memorial to his son, John Ashton Nicholls. Nicholls commissioned Worthington to prepare designs, with instructions that building was only to commence after his own death. It was built in 1878–1880 and Worthington's last significant commission in the city. The original usage was as an orphanage; the Ashton family gave over £100,000 to its construction and endowment.