St Bernard's Hospital, also known as Hanwell Insane Asylum and the Hanwell Pauper and Lunatic Asylum, was an asylum built for the
pauper
Pauperism (Lat. ''pauper'', poor) is poverty or generally the state of being poor, or particularly the condition of being a "pauper", i.e. receiving relief administered under the English Poor Laws. From this, pauperism can also be more generally ...
insane, opening as the First Middlesex County Asylum in 1831. Some of the original buildings are now part of the headquarters for the
West London Mental Health NHS Trust (WLMHT).
Its first superintendent, Dr
William Charles Ellis, was known in his lifetime for his pioneering work and his adherence to his "great principle of therapeutic employment". Sceptical contemporaries were amazed that such therapy speeded recovery at Hanwell.
This greatly pleased the visiting Justices of the Peace as it reduced the long term cost of keeping each patient. Under the third superintendent
John Conolly
John Conolly (27 May 1794 – 5 March 1866) was an English psychiatrist. He published the volume ''Indications of Insanity'' in 1830. In 1839, he was appointed resident physician to the Middlesex County Asylum where he introduced the princip ...
the institution became famous as the first large asylum to dispense with all mechanical restraints.
The asylum is next to the village of
Hanwell
Hanwell () is a town in the London Borough of Ealing, in the historic County of Middlesex, England. It is about 1.5 miles west of Ealing Broadway and had a population of 28,768 as of 2011. It is the westernmost location of the London post t ...
but parochially was in
Southall
Southall () is a large suburban county of West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...
(officially in the 1830s the northern precinct (chapelry) of
Norwood). It is about 8 miles or 13 km west of Central London and 6 miles (10 km) south-east of
Uxbridge
Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxbrid ...
.
The building lies on a gently sloping
river gravel terrace, a common feature of the
Thames Valley
The Thames Valley is an informally-defined sub-region of South East England, centred on the River Thames west of London, with Oxford as a major centre. Its boundaries vary with context. The area is a major tourist destination and economic hub, ...
. The land immediately to the east was further eroded by the
River Brent
The River Brent is a river in west and northwest London, England, and a tributary of the River Thames. in length, it rises in the Borough of Barnet and flows in a generally south-west direction before joining the Tideway stretch of the Thame ...
, which flows along its eastern perimeter. At its southern boundary is the
Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter st ...
and a flight of six
locks
Lock(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
*Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance
*Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal
Arts and entertainment
* ''Lock ...
. Both the southern wall of the old asylum and the flight of locks have been designated a
Scheduled Ancient Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
.
History
Foundation
![asylum layout](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Asylum_layout.png)
Several Acts of Parliament allowed the building of the Asylum, and statutes have driven the subsequent changes in
mental health
Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...
care. The background to the creation of the asylum included the 1808 County Asylums Act which was passed after an expensive war against France. This recognised
lunatics
Lunatic is an antiquated term referring to a person who is seen as mentally ill, dangerous, foolish, or crazy—conditions once attributed to "lunacy". The word derives from ''lunaticus'' meaning "of the moon" or "moonstruck".
History
The te ...
as being ill, as being held in the wrong institutions and perhaps having a chance to recover if given the right type of treatment. Non-recovery would mean that the insane
pauper
Pauperism (Lat. ''pauper'', poor) is poverty or generally the state of being poor, or particularly the condition of being a "pauper", i.e. receiving relief administered under the English Poor Laws. From this, pauperism can also be more generally ...
would always need to be looked after, which would cost more in the long run. Some parishes were growing in population due to industrialisation, and the existing charitable institutions and
workhouse
In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse'' ...
s could not cope with the increasing demand. The recognition of
insanity
Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to ...
as an illness with a possibility of recovery can perhaps be seen as a cost-saving measure as well as a humane one.
"Whereas the practice of confining such lunatics and other insane persons as are chargeable to their respective parishes in Gaols, Houses of Correction, Poor Houses and Houses of Industry, is highly dangerous and inconvenient"
The 1808 Act was passed to empower county
Justices of the Peace
A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...
(JPs) to construct asylums financed out of the local
rates
Rate or rates may refer to:
Finance
* Rates (tax), a type of taxation system in the United Kingdom used to fund local government
* Exchange rate, rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another
Mathematics and science
* Rate (mathema ...
, which proved very unpopular. As JPs faced annual re-election, they often met resistance to this policy. The cost of keeping lunatics in jails and workhouses had previously been charged to their parish of birth, and continued indefinitely as there was no attempt to cure them. To make matters worse, the Corn Laws kept food prices high while the
Enclosure Act
The Inclosure Acts, which use an archaic spelling of the word now usually spelt "enclosure", cover enclosure of open fields and common land in England and Wales, creating legal property rights to land previously held in common. Between 1604 and 1 ...
of 1813 removed the right of poor people to use the common lands to support themselves, causing added mental distress to the already impoverished.
Concern grew about the disproportionate number of lunatics in
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
. The local
judiciary
The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
(before whom the lunatics would have appeared charged with various offences or running amok) decided on 15 November 1827 to exercise their powers and build an asylum. In the following year Parliament recognised the barriers to asylum building (mostly financial) and passed the 1828 Metropolitan Commissioners in Lunacy Act to ensure the 1808 Acts was enforced.
Work on the new asylum at
Hanwell
Hanwell () is a town in the London Borough of Ealing, in the historic County of Middlesex, England. It is about 1.5 miles west of Ealing Broadway and had a population of 28,768 as of 2011. It is the westernmost location of the London post t ...
started in 1829. Most of the land – – was purchased from the
Earl of Jersey
Earl of the Island of Jersey, usually shortened to Earl of Jersey, is a title in the Peerage of England held by a branch of the Villiers family, which since 1819 has been the Child-Villiers family.
History
It was created in 1697 for the sta ...
. The building contractor was
William Cubitt
Sir William Cubitt FRS (bapt. 9 October 1785 – 13 October 1861) was an eminent English civil engineer and millwright. Born in Norfolk, England, he was employed in many of the great engineering undertakings of his time. He invented a type of ...
, who completed the work to a tight budget of £64,000.
The architect was William Alderson. His
neo-classical design consisted of a central octagonal '
panopticon
The panopticon is a type of institutional building and a system of control designed by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. The concept of the design is to allow all prisoners of an institution to be o ...
' tower with a basement and two other floors. The windows are tall with semicircular bonded gauge brick arches at the top.
There were two wings of one basement and just one other floor in the form of a west–east corridor.
Both wings turn north, and each terminates at its own panopticon tower, which again has a basement and two floors; the overall building forms three sides of a square. The east side of the central tower was intended for the male patients and the west for the females. With
germ theory
The germ theory of disease is the currently accepted scientific theory for many diseases. It states that microorganisms known as pathogens or "germs" can lead to disease. These small organisms, too small to be seen without magnification, invade ...
beginning to be developed around this time, spreading the wards out in this manner was thought to help reduce the spread of infections.
The design also reduced the need to build corridors and saved money. The wards themselves were long and thin with a corridor from one part of the asylum to another running through the ward itself. From the air the design is roughly symmetrical with services: kitchens; laundry; management; chapel and hall (used for parties, theatre and dances) all located in the middle with wards laid out to each side, male to the left of the entrance and female to the right.
Hanwell became a model for future hospitals and was copied and modified by the designers of countless other asylums across England and Wales (for example Horton,
Colney Hatch
Colney Hatch () is the historical name for a small district within the London Borough of Barnet in London, England. Colney Hatch refers to a loosely defined area centred on the northern end of Colney Hatch Lane (B550), which connects Friern ...
,
Claybury, or
Springfield
Springfield may refer to:
* Springfield (toponym), the place name in general
Places and locations Australia
* Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast)
* Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council)
* Springfield, Queenslan ...
). The main alternative design being the villa plan (for example
Chalfont or
Shenley
Shenley is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, between Barnet and St Albans. The village is located 14 miles from Central London.
History
The history of Shenley stretches back a thousand years or more – it is mentioned in ...
).
The central tower was adorned with a monumental clock procured from John Moore & Sons of 38–9 Clerkenwell Close, London. This was later moved to the Chapel tower when the chapel was built. In November 1829 building work started again on the first extension, and there were further expansions in 1879.
The building was designed as a functional work space and home for the treatment of insane paupers, rather than a residence or civic building. This unfortunately led to poor ventilation, and together with overcrowding may be have been the cause of
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
. The main view most people see of the hospital is the elegantly proportioned gatehouse entrance which adjoins the Uxbridge Road. It takes the form of a
neoclassical half-circular arch, large and solid, over tall vertical barred, iron gates, which incorporate a small pedestrian gate with its own key lock. On the north side of the building there is a blue
Ordnance Survey
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Bench Mark. This point was measured to be 69.279 feet (21.116 m) above mean sea level.
The Victorian era
The asylum opened on 16 May 1831 under the administration of the local Committee of Visiting Justices of
Middlesex County Council
Middlesex County Council was the principal local government body in the administrative county of Middlesex from 1889 to 1965.
The county council was created by the Local Government Act 1888, which also removed the most populous part of the coun ...
.
The first superintendent was Dr
William Charles Ellis, who in 1817 had been appointed superintendent to the newly purpose-built
West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum at
Wakefield
Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
. His wife, Mildred Ellis, held the post of
matron
Matron is the job title of a very senior or the chief nurse in several countries, including the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and other Commonwealth countries and former colonies.
Etymology
The chief nurse, in other words the person ...
at Hanwell (as she had at Wakefield) from the opening in 1831 until William Ellis' resignation in 1838.
[
It was found essential for recovery that the patients should get out into full daylight for fresh air and exercise, so the ground floor wards had 'airing courts' which were shared by the other wards upstairs. These were pleasantly laid out areas with seating and bounded by walls or railings. Some patients, well into their recovery, were allowed to walk and work in the surrounding fields. The asylum had its own carpentry, bakery and brewery along with many other services and was as self-sufficient as possible. The asylum paid the canal company for taking water from the canal and had its own dock to receive barges. This was very convenient for receiving coal deliveries, which was used not only for heating but for producing gas for lighting.][
]
Originally planned to house 450 patients, with space for a further 150, its capacity was reduced back to 300, with space for another 150. This was due to fears of an outcry if the local tax rate increased too sharply. At first the number of pauper
Pauperism (Lat. ''pauper'', poor) is poverty or generally the state of being poor, or particularly the condition of being a "pauper", i.e. receiving relief administered under the English Poor Laws. From this, pauperism can also be more generally ...
s admitted was low due to the charge of nine shilling per week each, this being higher than the workhouses and jails, but by force of the law the asylum was full within six months and more space was badly needed. In November of the same year, work on building extensions began to address this problem, and so started the almost continuous process of rebuilding and improvements that go on in the present day.
The friends or relatives of a deceased patient were free to remove the remains for burial. Failing this, the deceased were interred in unmarked paupers' graves in the hospitals burial ground
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...
. With the 1832 Anatomy Act, the body was first kept in a building called the 'dead house', on the west side of the burial ground (''see diagram above''). If unclaimed after 72 hours it could be sold to a licensed anatomy
Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...
school. The Act also provided for the donation of bodies. As autopsies on paupers did not require the coroner's permission, autopsies became common at the hospital. From 1845 the results of these autopsies were recorded in detail by Dr Hitchman.
John Conolly
John Conolly (27 May 1794 – 5 March 1866) was an English psychiatrist. He published the volume ''Indications of Insanity'' in 1830. In 1839, he was appointed resident physician to the Middlesex County Asylum where he introduced the princip ...
took up residence as the third superintendent on 1 June 1839. In April 1839, Serjeant-at-law
A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writ ...
John Adams, one of the Visiting Justices of the asylum and a founding member and first chairman of Legal & General
Legal & General Group plc, commonly known as Legal & General, is a British multinational financial services and asset management company headquartered in London, England. Its products and services include investment management, lifetime mortg ...
, suggested that Conolly visit the Lincoln Asylum and see the system operated by Robert Gardiner Hill
Robert Gardiner Hill MD (26 February 1811 – 30 May 1878) was a British surgeon specialising in the treatment of lunatic, lunacy. He is normally credited with being the first superintendent of a small Insane asylum, asylum (approximately 100 pa ...
. He was so impressed by this that he decided to abolish mechanical restraints at Hanwell. This must have taken enormous powers of persuasion: the existing staff would have to change their work practices and learn how to nurse more effectively those patients with troubling behaviour. However, the reform seemed to avoid the patient suffering further trauma
Trauma most often refers to:
* Major trauma, in physical medicine, severe physical injury caused by an external source
* Psychological trauma, a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a severely distressing event
*Traumatic i ...
as a result of restraint and being made to feel completely helpless. Conolly succeeded in introducing the reform by 21 September 1839, less than 3 months after he took charge. This is perhaps a testament to the earlier work of Ellis.
Something of Connolly's success can be gauged from this extract from the first page of the 68th report of the Visiting Justices:
Conolly described the therapy in his book ''The Treatment of the Insane without Mechanical Restraints''.
A full-page illustration and short article was published in ''The Illustrated London News
''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication in ...
'' on 15 January 1848 about how Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...
was celebrated at the Hanwell Asylum.
In 1888, the earlier 1879 Act of Parliament
Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...
to facilitate the control and care of Habitual Drunkard
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...
s was made permanent (and the term 'Habitual Drunkard' changed to 'Inebriate'). As Hanwell would take in such patients for up to a year, this Act was seen as a reason to close the brewery. With the term "London County" being introduced for the greater London area, the asylum was renamed the ''London County Asylum'' in 1889.
Early 20th century
On 11 June 1910, nurse Hilda Elizabeth Wolsey followed a female patient who climbed one of the fire escapes and then along the guttering of the ward roof. She held on to the patient until help arrived and they could both be lowered to the safety of the ground. For this act of heroism she was awarded the Albert Medal which was exchanged for a more suitable George Cross
The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, has been ...
in 1971. Under the administration of the London County Council
London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...
from 1918, the asylum was renamed the Hanwell Mental Hospital in 1929.[
A postcard displaying an aerial photograph taken in the first half of the 1920s shows that the nurses' home has still to be built in the top right corner of the frame. It has since been demolished. Further to the top right is the railway iron bridge at the junction of ]Uxbridge Road
Uxbridge Road is the name of the A4020 road in West London. The route starts at Shepherd's Bush Green and goes west towards Uxbridge. It passes through Acton, Ealing, Hanwell, Southall, Hayes, and Hillingdon.
Uxbridge Road is a major roa ...
(A4020) and Windmill Lane (A4127) which runs south to the left of the frame. Running down the left-hand side is a section of the 'Flight of Locks' on the Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter st ...
.
By the 1920s there were sufficient beds to ensure that no person too ill to keep within the laws of the land (or avoid getting misled by others into transgressing the law) need be sent to gaol
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correct ...
. Local prison population subsequently fell. The hospital was under the administration of the London County Council
London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...
until 1948 when responsibility was transferred to the new 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 " ...
– North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board.[ One ward of the hospital was used as the local 'Emergency Medical Services (EMS) centre, to treat war casualties during the ]Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Several bombs landed on the hospital and its grounds during the war. It was close to two strategic targets: the AEC factory in Windmill Lane which built fighting vehicles, and the Wharncliffe Viaduct
The Wharncliffe Viaduct is a brick-built viaduct that carries the Great Western Main Line railway across the Brent Valley, between Hanwell and Southall, Ealing, UK, at an elevation of . The viaduct, built in 1836–7, was constructed for the op ...
which carried the Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
, a vital transport route. Some of the UXBs fell into the soft sediment of the River Brent
The River Brent is a river in west and northwest London, England, and a tributary of the River Thames. in length, it rises in the Borough of Barnet and flows in a generally south-west direction before joining the Tideway stretch of the Thame ...
, and some may still be there. However a V1 hit the hospital laundry and caused many casualties. This event is mentioned in a personal account by Simon Tobitt in ''WW2 Peoples War.'' The Gatehouse also received some bomb damage.[ The facility became St Bernard's Hospital, Southall in 1937.][
]
Post war era
Following the Second World War, new medicines were found to be effective in the treatment of many of the major mental illnesses, see Chlorpromazine
Chlorpromazine (CPZ), marketed under the brand names Thorazine and Largactil among others, is an antipsychotic medication. It is primarily used to treat psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. Other uses include the treatment of bipolar dis ...
. Following refinement and clinic trials they were introduced at the end of the 1950s and made a massive positive impact on the hospital. At last there was an effective treatment, and as a result the containment aspect of segregated patients within wards could for most wards be relaxed. As their illnesses responded to treatment patients recovered and started to be discharged. In the early 1960s the hospital accommodated circa 2,200 patients.[
Dr Max Meier Glatt, (26 January 1912 – 14 May 2002) was one of the ]pioneer
Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land.
In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and de ...
s in the treatment of people with an addictive
Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use oft ...
personality trait
In psychology, trait theory (also called dispositional theory) is an approach to the study of human personality. Trait theorists are primarily interested in the measurement of ''traits'', which can be defined as habitual patterns of behaviour, tho ...
. Appointed as a consultant in 1958 he set up an alcohol dependency
Alcohol dependence is a previous (DSM-IV and ICD-10) psychiatric diagnosis in which an individual is physically or psychologically dependent upon alcohol (also chemically known as ethanol).
In 2013, it was reclassified as alcohol use disorder ...
unit in a female ward. His approach of creating a "therapeutic community Therapeutic community is a participative, group-based approach to long-term mental illness, personality disorders and drug addiction. The approach was usually residential, with the clients and therapists living together, but increasingly residential ...
" with a 12-week inpatient stay to help patents come to terms with their problems and explore new methods of living in the future without their addiction was found to be a great success. In 1982 this facility was moved and became a drug and alcohol dependence unit; it moved again in 2000 and is now known as the Max Glatt Unit. It is currently run by the Central North West London Mental Health NHS Trust Substance Misuses Service.
In the mid-1970s a UK Government, (Health Department
A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...
) trial was announced to try to reduce the stigma of psychiatric hospitals. At Hanwell a new district general hospital was built in the grounds of the former asylum. The whole site was then named Ealing Hospital and comprised two wings: the "General Wing" for acute patients and "Ealing Hospital, St. Bernard's Wing" for psychiatric patients.
In 1998, St. Bernard's Wing underwent a major refurbishment. It cost in excess of £4.5 million and took roughly eight months. In 2007, the Orchard Centre was opened, as a medium secure psychiatric unit for women. The Department of Health
A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...
had conducted a consultation and found that women experiencing mental health
Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...
problems were poorly catered for. This led to new guidelines being drawn up and published. Part of this guidance called for women who suffer mental problems, and for whom only medium secure accommodation was needed, to be treated in way that was sympathetic with their gender. The West London Mental Health Trust commissioned Tuke Manton Architects of Clapham to design the centre and Kier Group
Kier Group plc is a British construction, services and property group active in building and civil engineering, support services, and the Private Finance Initiative.
Founded in 1928 in Stoke-on-Trent it initially specialised in concrete enginee ...
to build it.
In popular culture
Film and television
The ITV 1970s TV series '' The Professionals'' filmed both outside and inside for several different episodes, most notably in one episode when a car is driven at speed towards the asylum main entrance followed by both main characters running down the white spiral staircase of the central tower into the basement below. At least one other episode uses a ward as a location where the three main characters visit a person supposedly in a general hospital ward.
Some scenes of the BBC 1970s TV series ''Porridge
Porridge is a food made by heating or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, (dried) fruit or syrup to make a sweet cereal, ...
'' starring Ronnie Barker
Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as '' Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', and ''Open All Hours''.
...
was filmed at Hanwell.[
Some scenes of the 1989 '']Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
'' film starring (amongst others) Jack Nicholson
John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...
as the Joker, were also filmed in empty wards at Hanwell (using K block). This went down especially well with the staff as an earlier film of Jack's '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (1975), set in an American psychiatric hospital, was at that time a favourite.[
Some scenes of ]Stephen Poliakoff
Stephen Poliakoff (born 1 December 1952) is a British playwright, director and screenwriter. In 2006 Gerard Gilbert of ''The Independent'' described him as the UK's "pre-eminent TV dramatist" who had "inherited Dennis Potter's crown".
Early ...
's film ''She's Been Away
''She's Been Away'' is a 1989 British television play by Stephen Poliakoff and directed by Sir Peter Hall. In her final appearance it starred Dame Peggy Ashcroft, who won two awards at the Venice International Film Festival
The Venice F ...
'' (1989) were filmed at the hospital. Dame Peggy Ashcroft
Dame Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft (22 December 1907 – 14 June 1991), known professionally as Peggy Ashcroft, was an English actress whose career spanned more than 60 years.
Born to a comfortable middle-class family, Ashcroft was deter ...
starred as Lillian Huckle, a woman who was institutionalized 60 years before whilst still a young girl, simply because she did not conform to social norms.
In the 1963 film ''The Bargee
''The Bargee'' is a 1964 British comedy film shot in Techniscope directed by Duncan Wood, and starring Harry H. Corbett, Hugh Griffith, Eric Sykes and Ronnie Barker. The screenplay was written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.
Plot
Hemel Pike ...
'', (directed by Duncan Wood
Wilfred Duncan Wood (24 March 1925 – 11 January 1997) was a British comedy producer, director and writer, who has been described as "the founding father of the British TV sitcom". His best-known achievements were to produce all of Tony Ha ...
) and starring Harry H. Corbett
Harry H. Corbett OBE (28 February 1925 – 21 March 1982) was an English actor and comedian, best remembered for playing rag-and-bone man Harold Steptoe alongside Wilfrid Brambell in the long-running BBC television sitcom ''Steptoe and Son'' ( ...
, Ronnie Barker
Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as '' Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', and ''Open All Hours''.
...
, Hugh Griffith
Hugh Emrys Griffith (30 May 1912 – 14 May 1980) was a Welsh film, stage, and television actor. He is best remembered for his role in the film '' Ben-Hur'' (1959), which earned him critical acclaim and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Acto ...
and Eric Sykes
Eric Sykes (4 May 1923 – 4 July 2012) was an English radio, stage, television and film writer, comedian, actor, and director whose performing career spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and performed with many other leading com ...
, the two bargees descend the flight of locks with the hospital in the background.
In literature or prose
G. K. Chesterton opens his early defence of Christianity, Orthodoxy
Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion.
Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churc ...
, using Hanwell symbolically. A companion says “That man will get on; he believes in himself”, but Chesterton sees where this argument goes – he spies in the street an omnibus on which is written "Hanwell" and says "Shall I tell you where the men are who believe most in themselves?..." From these parallel journeys, he draws an argument that the rational materialist, just like the madman, lives in a bubble which is entirely self-consistent, but also entirely unreal, having constructed a world which is isolated from the actuality of human relationships and experience.
Theatre
Hanwell Insane Asylum was mentioned in George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
's 1914 play ''Pygmalion
Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to:
Mythology
* Pygmalion (mythology), a sculptor who fell in love with his statue
Stage
* ''Pigmalion'' (opera), a 1745 opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau
* ''Pygmalion'' (Rousseau), a 1762 melodrama by Jean-Jacques ...
''. Phonetics
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...
Professor Henry Higgins, after successfully telling strangers where they were born by their accent, was jokingly told he came from Hanwell Insane Asylum.
Museum
Reverend H A Norris, (a former chaplain to the hospital) realized in the early 1980s that there were old records at hospital which were historically important and should join the others in the Greater London Council
The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...
Records Library (now part of the National Archives
National archives are central archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives.
Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both ...
). He feared these would be thrown out by staff, and volunteers formed the 'Museum Committee' to help. They recovered much of the hospital heritage. This also included mechanical restraints, ECT machines, and some of the old fixtures and fittings. The largest item by far was the last original 'seclusion room' with white stained leather-covered straw padding walls and floor. One of the books retrieved in the search by the museum committee was a discharge book, the first entry was within a few months of the asylum's opening and recorded the death of a young woman, it listed her reason for admission as being "Continually sneezing". Also on display was a letter written by Arthur O'Connor. He had been committed to Hanwell on 6 May 1875 for firing an unloaded pistol at Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
earlier on 29 February.
Blue Plaque
Dr John Conolly and the former Hanwell Asylum were commemorated with an English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...
in May 2022, on a wall of what was the left-hand wing of the asylum. It is the first plaque in the scheme to go up in Hanwell and the date of its installation was chosen to support Mental Health Week in the UK.
Notes
References
External links
*
* The local voluntar
Patient and Public Involvement
(PPI) Forum. Retrieved on 5 October 2006
*Transport for London
Bus services to and from Hanwell
Accessed 5 June 2007
* National Rail Station
Accessed 5 June 2007
Accessed 5 June 2007 (a Bristol psychiatric hospital museum)
*
* Martineau, Harriet
The Hanwell Lunatic Asylum
Description of the Ellis system; published in ''Tait's Edinburgh Magazine
''Tait's Edinburgh Magazine'' was a monthly periodical founded in 1832. It was an important venue for liberal political views, as well as contemporary cultural and literary developments, in early-to-mid-nineteenth century Britain.
The magazine wa ...
'', June 183.
* Roberts, Andrew (1981), ''The Asylums Index.'' Middlesex University, London, England. Retrieved on 7 October 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Bernard's Hospital, Hanwell
Psychiatric hospitals in England
NHS hospitals in London
Former psychiatric hospitals in England
Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Ealing
History of the London Borough of Ealing
History of Middlesex
Hospitals established in 1831
1831 establishments in England