Saxondale Hospital 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 ...

near

Radcliffe-on-Trent Radcliffe-on-Trent is a large village and civil parish in the Rushcliffe borough of Nottinghamshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the Census 2011 was 8,205. Location Radcliffe has a population of about 8,000. It is to the eas ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

, built to replace the

Sneinton Asylum Sneinton Asylum was a psychiatric hospital at Sneinton in Nottingham. History The Nottingham General Lunatic Asylum was the first such asylum to open in the United Kingdom. It was designed by Richard Ingleman of Southwell. The foundation stone ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

History

The foundation stone was laid on 25 July 1899 by Lady Belper, wife of the chairman of

Nottinghamshire County Council Nottinghamshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Nottinghamshire in England. It consists of 66 county councillors, elected from 56 electoral divisions every four years. The most recent election ...

. The new building – designed by architect

Edgar Purnell Hooley Edgar Purnell Hooley (5 June 1860 – 26 January 1942) was a Welsh inventor. After inventing tarmac in 1902, he founded Tar Macadam Syndicate Ltd the following year and registered tarmac as a trademark. Following a merger in 2013 the business bec ...

, better known as the inventor of Tarmac – was two stories high, cost £147,000 and had accommodation for 452 patients (226 of each sex). The surrounding the hospital cost £6800. It was officially opened as the Radcliffe Asylum by Lady Elinor Denison on 24 July 1902. In 1913 extensions were made for 148 patients, which cost £29,833. It was used as a

military hospital A military hospital is a hospital owned and operated by a military. They are often reserved for the use of military personnel and their dependents, but in some countries are made available to civilians as well. They may or may not be located on a ...

in the later stages of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, from August 1918 to October 1919, to care for

shell shock Shell shock is a term coined in World War I by the British psychologist Charles Samuel Myers to describe the type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) many soldiers were afflicted with during the war (before PTSD was termed). It is a react ...

ed soldiers. The hospital underwent a

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

and occupation in April 1922, when the staff members of the

National Asylum Workers' Union The Mental Hospital and Institutional Workers' Union was a trade union in the United Kingdom. The union was established as the National Asylum Workers' Union in 1910 by asylum attendants in Lancashire. George Gibson (trade unionist), George Gib ...

were resisting a reduction in wages. In 1932, two further blocks were erected, each to accommodate 50 female patients. It became known as Saxondale Hospital in 1947 and 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 " ...

in 1948. Further villas were built in the grounds in the 1950s and 1960s. A woman alleged that

Jimmy Savile Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile (; 31 October 1926 – 29 October 2011) was an English DJ, television and radio personality who hosted BBC shows including ''Top of the Pops'' and ''Jim'll Fix It''. During his lifetime, he was well known ...

lifted her skirt when she was at a disco at the hospital and then aged 14. She was a local resident rather than a patient. Savile had a fundraising association with Saxondale Hospital from 1972 to the early 1980s. The official report on the incident stated, "There was no reason to doubt that she gave an honest and truthful account of the incident as she recalled it."

Closure

The hospital closed in 1987 and was partly demolished before the site was redeveloped. It is now a housing area known as

Upper Saxondale Upper Saxondale is a residential area mainly in the parish of Radcliffe on Trent, in the Nottinghamshire borough of Rushcliffe. A section falls within the parish of Cropwell Butler. It lies in an upland area between the River Trent and the Vale of ...

References

{{authority control Hospital buildings completed in 1902 Defunct hospitals in England Radcliffe on Trent