Rockwood Asylum (also known as Rockwood Lunatic Asylum or Rockwood Asylum for the Criminally Insane) was one of the first criminal asylums in Upper Canada, established in 1859 in

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, Ontario. Although methodologies of patient care changed drastically throughout its existence, the facility existed as some form of psychiatric hospital until its closure in 2000. The ominous four-storey building remains on its original property just west of Portsmouth, just a few metres inland from the shore of Lake Ontario.

History

The goal of establishing a separate facility in

for the "criminally insane" was founded largely due to issues of overcrowding at local jails and the nearby

Kingston Penitentiary Kingston Penitentiary (known locally as KP and Kingston Pen) is a former maximum security prison located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, between King Street West and Lake Ontario. History Constructed from 1833 to 1834, and opened on June 1, 1 ...

. The Provincial Lunatic Asylum established in Toronto and similar institutions in

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persuaded the politicians of Upper Canada to design a facility that incorporated "modern treatment methods" of the time. The building site was rented, and later purchased by the Province of Canada from John Cartwright, whose 40-acre waterfront estate sat just outside the city of Portsmouth.

William Coverdale William Coverdale (8 July 1862 – 23 September 1934) was an English first-class cricketer, who played two matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club in June 1888.architect of the structure, with much debate over the most optimal layout and progressive hospital design practices of the time. John A. Macdonald—then joint-

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of the Province of Canada—personally inspected the site during construction, weighing in on the ideal size and function of Rockwood Asylum. Rockwood-Insane-Asylum-Sketch

Operation

John Palmer Litchfield was the first superintendent of Rockwood, indulging in the practices of bloodletting and lobotomies to "cure" patients. However, Litchfield was later exposed to be an experienced con-man, who had lied about his medical credentials to obtain the position. Affiliation with

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and the provincial psychiatric system led to much research and debate about the appropriate methods for patient care, which drastically improved under Dr. William Metcalf and Dr. Charles Clarke towards the end of the

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. The Cartwright horse stables were used to house female patients until a new wing was added onto the facility in 1868. The facility had a major shift in 1959, when most patients were transferred to the nearby Ontario Hospital, and Rockwood donned a new name and purpose: "The Penrose Building", a residence for local citizens with disabilities. The building and grounds served this new goal with some hesitation, surrounded by the walls of a century-old institution. Officially closing in 2000, Coverdale's "Italian-style" stone building remains vacant on the waterfront to this day.

References

{{coord, 44.2159, -76.5229, type:landmark_region:CA-ON, display=title 1862 establishments in Canada West 2000 disestablishments in Ontario Psychiatric hospitals in Ontario