Rauceby Hospital, originally called
Kesteven
The Parts of Kesteven ( or ) are a traditional division of Lincolnshire, England. This division had long had a separate county administration (quarter sessions), along with the two other Parts of Lincolnshire, Lindsey and Holland.
Etymology
Th ...
County Asylum, is a now-defunct mental institution in the parish of
Quarrington,
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...
, England. Originally opened in 1902, the main hospital building was closed in 1997 and the site has since been redeveloped.
History
The hospital was designed by
George Thomas Hine
George Thomas Hine FRIBA (1842–25 April 1916) was an English architect. His prolific output included new county asylums for Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire, Surrey, East Sussex and Worcestershire, as well as extensive additions to many others.
Bi ...
using an "
echelon
ECHELON, originally a secret government code name, is a surveillance program (signals intelligence/SIGINT collection and analysis network) operated by the five signatory states to the UKUSA Security Agreement:Given the 5 dialects that use ...
layout".
Construction began in 1897 and it was officially opened as Kesteven County Asylum on 20 June 1902.
[ The gardens were designed under a separate contract by ]William Goldring
William Goldring (May 1854 – 26 February 1919) was a landscape architect, and naturalist. Goldring arrived in Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1875) where he was in charge of the Herbaceous Department at the world-famous botanical garden. He served ...
.[
An isolation unit, built in 1919 on the western edge of the site was never used as such; instead it housed those residents working on the farm.][ The facility became Kesteven Mental Hospital in 1924 and Rauceby Mental Hospital in 1933.
In 1940 the building was taken over by the ]Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
; renamed as No.4 RAF Hospital Rauceby, it became a crash and burns unit under the control of nearby RAF Cranwell
Royal Air Force Cranwell or more simply RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England, close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. Among other functions, it is home to the Royal Air Force College (RAFC), which trai ...
. During its tenure as a burns unit plastic surgeon
Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes craniof ...
Archibald McIndoe
Sir Archibald Hector McIndoe (4 May 1900 – 11 April 1960) was a New Zealand plastic surgeon who worked for the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He improved the treatment and rehabilitation of badly burned aircrew.
Early life
Archi ...
worked at the facility, along with other members of the "Guinea Pig Club
The Guinea Pig Club, established in 1941, was a social club and mutual support network for British and allied aircrew injured during World War II. Its membership was made up of patients of Archibald McIndoe in Ward III at Queen Victoria Hospit ...
". The wartime Burns Unit was situated in Orchard House, built alongside the hospital orchard.
There was a major fire in the hall in 1945 and it was badly damaged although it was subsequently restored.[ The RAF handed the hospital back for civilian use in 1947 and it joined the ]National Health Service
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
as Rauceby Hospital in 1948 although patients did not actually return until 1949.[
After the introduction of ]Care in the Community
Care in the Community (also called "Community Care" or "Domiciliary Care") is a British policy of deinstitutionalisation, treating and caring for physically and mentally disabled people in their homes rather than in an institution. Institutional ca ...
in the early 1980s, the hospital went through a period of decline and finally closed in December 1997.[ The site was subsequently developed for residential use by ]David Wilson Homes
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
as "Greylees".[
The former isolation unit, now known as Ash Villa, functions as a 12-bedded in-patient unit for age 12–18 years within the child and adolescent mental health services under the control of the Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.]
References
External links
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{{authority control
Hospital buildings completed in 1902
Hospitals in Lincolnshire
Defunct hospitals in England
Former psychiatric hospitals in England
Military hospitals in the United Kingdom
Municipal hospitals
Sleaford