The Mount View Lunatic Asylum (alternates: Mt. View Lunatic Asylum, Mount View 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, dissociative ...

located on near the

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Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

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is now located on what were the asylum grounds. Work began in 1872, and the hospital opened in May 1873. It replaced Karori Lunatic Asylum, the first asylum in the country. Mount View was planned to accommodate 28 male and 28 female patients, but as 70 patients were transferred from Karori, overcrowding was a problem from the beginning. An expansion was required soon after the asylum opened to accommodate more patients, so in 1879 the two-storey wooden structure was enlarged with a block for 50 male patients, and another wing was built during 1880. Around 1885 two additional wards were constructed. By 1905 there were 250 patients but within the next five years, they were transferred to

Porirua Lunatic Asylum Porirua Lunatic Asylum (alternates: Porirua Asylum, Porirua Hospital, Porirua Psychiatric Hospital; currently: Porirua Hospital Museum) was a psychiatric hospital located in Porirua. Established in 1887, it was at one time the largest hospital in ...

and other asylums, before Mount View's closure in 1910.

References

Hospital buildings completed in 1873 Buildings and structures in Wellington City Psychiatric hospitals in New Zealand Defunct hospitals in New Zealand Hospitals established in 1873 1910 disestablishments in New Zealand 1870s architecture in New Zealand {{NewZealand-hospital-stub