The Royal Hamadryad Hospital was a seamen's hospital and later 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 ...

in the docklands area of

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, Wales. It had replaced a hospital ship, the former HMS ''Hamadryad'', in 1905. After it closed in 2002 the site was redeveloped for residential use.

History

Hospital ship

HMS Hamadryad and Royal Hamadryad Hospital, Cardiff

In 1866 a 43-year-old frigate, HMS ''Hamadryad'', was towed from Dartmouth to

and fitted out as a

hospital ship A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones. ...

at a cost of £2,791. The town's Medical Officer of Health, Dr Henry Paine, had identified the need for a seamen's hospital because of the many diseases that were brought to the docks by sailors from overseas. A piece of waste ground in

Cardiff Docks Cardiff Docks ( cy, Dociau Caerdydd) is a port in southern Cardiff, Wales. At its peak, the port was one of the largest dock systems in the world with a total quayage of almost . Once the main port for the export of South Wales coal, the Port ...

known as Rat Island was donated by the Marquis of Bute and the hospital ship opened for patients in November 1866. In its first year it admitted 400 patients and the free treatment was funded by a levy of two

shillings The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence or ...

per hundred tons of shipping at Cardiff Docks. The hospital ship was to remain at this site until 1905, when a permanent hospital was opened. ''Hamadryad'' was refloated and towed away to be scrapped.

Permanent facility

To mark the

Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria was officially celebrated on 22 June 1897 to mark the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. Queen Victoria was the first British monarch ever to celebrate a Diamond ...

in 1897, a decision was made to build a permanent

bricks-and-mortar Brick and mortar (also bricks and mortar or B&M) refers to a physical presence of an organization or business in a building or other structure. The term ''brick-and-mortar business'' is often used to refer to a company that possesses or leases r ...

seamen's hospital close to the site of the hospital ship. By that time 10,000 seamen (in-patients and out-patients) were being treated each year. The Marquis of Bute, on his death in 1900, bequeathed £20,000 towards the cost of the new building and this was augmented by additional subscriptions of £12,000 and the proceeds of a bazaar, which raised £4,400. A brand new hospital building was constructed in red brick, stone and terracotta immediately to the west of the ship site, designed by E.W.M. Corbett, the architect of the Marquis of Bute's estates. The architectural historian John Newman described the design as "An ebullient performance in orbett'sfavourite Queen-Anne-cum-Jacobean style". The foundation stone was laid on 7 August 1902 by the 4th Marquess of Bute, son of the testator. Named the Royal Hamadryad Hospital, the new building was opened by the Marquess on 29 June 1905. The hospital had 54 beds, electric lighting and

x-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...

facilities. It remained a seamen's hospital (one of only two in Britain offering free treatment exclusively to seafarers) until 1948. Following the formation of 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 " ...

it became a general hospital and then a psychiatric facility. After the remaining 30 mental health patients had been transferred to the newly-opened St David's Hospital in Canton, the hospital was finally closed in 2002.

Redevelopment

Some of the buildings on the site remain in use as a mental health day care centre. Planning approval has been agreed for housing to be built on the site of the old hospital. In 2015 a planning application for an apartment block with affordable homes was recommended for approval by

Cardiff Council Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Cyngor Sir Dinas a Sir Caerdydd) is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were established ...

planning committee. ''Ysgol Hamadryad'', a Welsh-medium primary school, was scheduled to move to the site in 2017, but moved to a new building on the site in January 2019.

References

External links

* (Map showing the location of the Hamadryad Hospital Ship) {{authority control Former psychiatric hospitals in Wales Hospital buildings completed in 1905 Hospitals established in 1866 Hospitals disestablished in 2002 Hospitals in Cardiff Defunct hospitals in Wales History of Cardiff Butetown 1866 establishments in Wales