Rediscovering the Asylums and Mental Hospitals of England and Wales
Welcome to County Asylums, a site dedicated to revealing the remains of England and Wales' local authority funded mental hospitals.
From the first permissive act and development bewteen 1808-1812, these institutions formed the backbone of in-patient mental healthcare until Care in the Community brought about their demise, most significantly, in the 1990's.
This site intentionally remains impartial regarding treatment associated with this type of mental healthcare and neither intends to advocate or criticise. It does, however recognise that there is a need, whether historically, architecturally or for those personally associated with such hospitals to recognise their existence.
Through the use of recent photography of each County or Borough Asylum site, this website aims to identify, what still exists. It is anticpated that each location will have accompanying information giving developmental overview and current site appraisal.
In the near future, the author(s) hope to expand this resource further to incorporate a similar system for local authority developed Mental Deficiency Institutions.
Please Note:
For any enquiries, please feel free to contact me via the comments page, ensuring a working email address is included and specifying clearly which hospital/asylum/institution you are enquiring about.
No specific information regarding ANY patient details is held by the author(s). Wherever possible, requests of this nature will only receive a reply with details for most likely source of records/archives associated with particular institutions. Please also be aware that such records are typically subject to a 100 year period of closure
There are currently a considerable number of enquiries awaiting reply - if you are awaiting a response from within the last year, you may receive a response providing your enquiry is still held within our archive. Apologies for any delays.
Disclaimer:
This site is intended as a resouce for architectural, historical, comparative and social interest. Images of Structures and properties have been included for this purpose. Some of the abive depict derelict or disused buildings or others still in use- the Author(s) of this site do not condone any trespass, breach of privacy or damage to the buildings concerned. Where buildings are still in use the utmost care has been taken to maintain the privacy of their occupants.
Terms used in this Site:
Terms used on this site are not intended to follow modern terminology of Mental Illness and Learning Disabilities. The use of terms such as Lunatic, Inmate, Feeble-minded, Subnormality, Mental Defective, Imbecile, Idiot, Handicap etc. are intended to reflect those used at the time and are not intended to cause offence.
Copyright:
All modern colour images are copyright of the Author(s) of this site unless otherwise stated. Please contact the Author(s) if reproductions are intended to be used elsewhere. All other images are copyright of their owners.