St Crispin's Hospital was a large

psychiatric Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psy ...

facility on the outskirts of

Duston Duston is a suburb of Northampton and a civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. History Archaeological remains found in the area suggest that Duston has roots in Prehistoric and Roman settlements. However, development in the area ha ...

village in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It was established Northampton Mental Hospital in 1876 and closed in 1995. The site has since been redeveloped for residential use with a small mental health unit still remaining there.

History

Work started on the hospital in 1873. It was designed by Robert Griffiths using a corridor layout and opened as the Northampton Mental Hospital in 1876. Additional blocks for children with mental health difficulties and for epileptics were completed in 1887. It served as a military hospital during 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 ...

and after the war it became Northampton Mental Hospital. It had 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 and two female patient villas were completed in 1954. The hospital was used as a filming location in the 1977 series of

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

, in a six-part story called ''

The Talons of Weng-Chiang ''The Talons of Weng-Chiang'' is the sixth and final serial of the 14th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 26 February to 2 April 1977. In the serial ...

''. The mortuary was used to represent a Victorian operating theatre. Following 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 into a period of decline and closed in 1995. The children's block and the superintendents' house were developed by

Taylor Wimpey Taylor Wimpey plc (formerly Taylor Woodrow plc) is one of the largest home construction companies in the United Kingdom. The company was created from the merger of rivals Taylor Woodrow and George Wimpey on 3 July 2007. It is listed on the Lond ...

for residential use between 2005 and 2008 and a small area was applied for the construction of

Berrywood Hospital Berrywood Hospital is a modern psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of Duston, Northampton. It is managed by Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital, which was built in the grounds of the former St Crispin's Ho ...

, a modern mental health facility. In August 2014, over 80 Firefighters responded to an emergency call as a large fire broke out. One of the buildings was also seriously damaged in March 2015 after it was set on fire by arsonists.

Gallery

St Crispins main hall.jpg, The Main Hall held up with scaffolding after a major fire St Crispins Asylum Fire damaged Main Hall.JPG, The Main Hall and Clock Tower Stripped out Wards.jpg, The ward blocks have been stripped of most of their original features

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Crispins Hospital Hospital buildings completed in 1876 Defunct hospitals in England Former psychiatric hospitals in England History of Northamptonshire Hospitals in Northamptonshire