The Gladesville Mental Hospital, formerly known as the Tarban Creek Lunatic Asylum, was a
psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociat ...
established in 1838 in the
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...
suburb of
Gladesville. The hospital officially closed in 1993, with the last inpatient services ceasing in 1997.
Description and history
Before 1838, people with mental or emotional problems in the Sydney area were housed in a "lunatic asylum" in
Gladesville, a suburb located on the
Parramatta River
The Parramatta River is an intermediate tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With an average depth of , the Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, a branch of Port Jackson. Se ...
's Northern banks between Sydney and Parramatta, or in the
Female Factory at
Parramatta, twenty-four kilometres west of Sydney. In the 1830s, construction of a purpose-built asylum began on the banks of the
Parramatta River
The Parramatta River is an intermediate tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With an average depth of , the Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, a branch of Port Jackson. Se ...
, in the area now known as Gladesville. The original
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...
complex, known initially as Tarban Creek Lunatic Asylum, was designed by the Colonial Architect,
Mortimer Lewis, between 1836 and 1838. Patients were then transferred from Liverpool and the Female Factory.
James Barnet designed additional buildings in the hospital grounds precinct.
On 29 January 1993, Gladesville Hospital, together with Macquarie Hospital, was revoked as a hospital, and was amalgamated to form the Gladesville Macquarie Hospital. The last inpatient services were closed in 1997.
The first supervisor was
John Thomas Digby, who sought to improve the treatment of the mentally ill, as did his successor,
Frederick Norton Manning. On a visit to Sydney in 1867, Manning was invited by
Henry Parkes to become medical superintendent of the Tarban Creek Lunatic Asylum. Before accepting, Manning went overseas and studied methods of patient care and administration of asylums; on his return to Sydney, he submitted a notable report. He was appointed to Tarban Creek on 15 October 1868 and immediately reported on the isolation of patients from their relations in accommodation best described as 'prison-like and gloomy', the inadequate facilities for their gainful employment and recreation and the monotonous diets deficient in both quantity and quality. In January 1869, the asylum's name was changed to the Hospital for the Insane, Gladesville, wherein patients were to receive treatment rather than be confined in a 'cemetery for diseased intellects'. By 1879 radical changes in patient care and accommodation had been made. Gladesville was extended and modernized, and an asylum for
imbeciles set up in Newcastle and a temporary asylum at Cooma. Manning minimized the use of restraint and provided for patient activities
The hospital continued to grow, sometimes through acquiring nearby properties. One notable acquisition was the
heritage-listed ''The Priory'', a two-storey sandstone house in Salter Street, Gladesville.
The house was built in the late 1840s, possibly by a family named Stubbs. In the 1850s, it was sold to the
Marist Fathers, who influenced the early development of Hunters Hill. The hospital acquired it in 1888. It was listed on the (now defunct)
Register of the National Estate in 1978.
In 1915, the designation was changed again when the complex became known as the Gladesville Mental Hospital. In 1993, the Gladesville hospital was amalgamated with the Macquarie Hospital at
North Ryde to create Gladesville Macquarie Hospital. In 1997, all inpatient services were consolidated at the Macquarie, North Ryde site.
[
]
Heritage listings
The following buildings and structures have various heritage listings on the New South Wales State Heritage Register, the local government register of the New South Wales Heritage Database, and/or the (now defunct) Register of the National Estate.
* Cypress Grove, Victoria Road
* Doctor's Residences, south side of Punt Road gates and around Crown Close commonly called The Circle
* Escarpment Terraces
* Former Medical Superintendent's Residence, designed by Barnet
* Gardener's Store
* Gatekeeper's Cottage, near Punt Road gates
* Gatekeeper's Lodge, Victoria Road
* Medical Records Department, Victoria Road
* Original Quadrangle Complex of 1838
* Pottery Building
* Provision Store
* Punt Road gates
* Sandstone and stone walling within the hospital grounds
* Service Buildings group, between 1838 buildings and Punt Road gates
* The Priory
The Priory Hospital, Roehampton, often referred to as The Priory, is a private mental health hospital in South West London. It was founded in 1872 and is now part of the Priory Group, which was acquired in 2011 by an American private equity fir ...
, Salter Street
* Wards 17 and 18, designed by Barnet
* Workshop (former Male Ward 9)
Gallery
Image:Gladesville3.JPG, Building 30
Image:Gladesville11.JPG, Wards 17 and 18
Image:Gladesville1.JPG, Gate cottage, Punt Road
Image:Gladesville15.JPG, Graves of Dr Eric Sinclair, left, and Frederick Norton Manning, Victoria Road
Image:Gladesville Mental Hospital Gate cottage Victoria Road.jpg, Gate cottage, Victoria Road
Image:Gladesville9.JPG, Building 11
Image:Gladesville19.JPG, Digby House, named after John Thomas Digby
Image:Priory1.JPG, The Priory
The Priory Hospital, Roehampton, often referred to as The Priory, is a private mental health hospital in South West London. It was founded in 1872 and is now part of the Priory Group, which was acquired in 2011 by an American private equity fir ...
, Salter Street
See also
*Callan Park Hospital for the Insane
The Callan Park Hospital for the Insane (1878 – 1914) is a heritage-listed former insane asylum, which was subsequently, for a time, used as a college campus, located in the grounds of Callan Park, an area on the shores of Iron Cove in Lilyfi ...
*Parramatta Female Factory
The Parramatta Female Factory, is a National Heritage Listed place and has three original sandstone buildings and the sandstone gaol walls. The Parramatta Female Factory was designed by convict architect Francis Greenway in 1818 and the only f ...
* Society of Mary (Marists) in Australia
References
Attribution
External links
*
{{Authority control
Hospital buildings completed in 1838
Former hospitals in Sydney
Hospitals established in 1838
1838 establishments in Australia
Mortimer Lewis buildings
James Barnet buildings in Sydney
1993 disestablishments in Australia
Hospitals disestablished in 1993
Psychiatric hospitals in Australia
Municipality of Hunter's Hill
Gladesville, New South Wales