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St David's Hospital ( cy, Ysbyty Dewi Sant) was a
In the early 2000s, a government report heavily criticised the standards of accommodation and care at the hospital. A patient had also died in 1999 after being administered a rapid tranquilisation when medical checks had not been carried out correctly. By April 2003, the vast majority of the 1,200 patients had been relocated to other mental health facilities, with only 100 expected to remain in a new unit on the site. Carmarthenshire Council purchased the old hospital buildings in 2003, at a cost of £3 million, to prevent the national government using them to house
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, dissociat ...
in Carmarthen
Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...
, Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
. The main Victorian building is Grade II listed
Listed may refer to:
* Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm
* Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic
* Endangered species in biology
* Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
.
History
Formation
The hospital opened as the Carmarthenshire, Cardigan and Pembrokeshire County Asylum in 1865, with room for 212 patients. The architect was David Brandon. His substantial three-storey buildings were designed in anItalianate style
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...
and included men's and women's wards, day rooms, offices, a grand dining hall, and a chapel. There were workshops and exercise yards for patients. The asylum had its own water tower
A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towers often operate in conju ...
s and a gas works
A gasworks or gas house is an industrial plant for the production of flammable gas. Many of these have been made redundant in the developed world by the use of natural gas, though they are still used for storage space.
Early gasworks
Coal ...
. In 1870, and between 1878 and 1880, additional wings were added and early examples of cavity wall
A cavity wall is a type of wall that has a hollow center. They can be described as consisting of two "skins" separated by a hollow space (cavity). The skins typically are masonry, such as brick or cinder block. Masonry is an absorbent material ...
ing to the ventilation towers.
Between 1883 and 1889, an ambitious new chapel was built, seating 500, funded by private patients and also built entirely by the asylum's inmates. The chapel included a multicoloured interior, using strips of polychrome glazed brick.
By 1929, the asylum was known as the Joint Counties Mental Hospital and, in 1948, on arrival 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 " ...
, became St David's Hospital. Capacity grew to include 940 beds by 1971.
In 1981, the buildings were given a Grade II listing as "an architectural ensemble of note, incorporating the latest ideas on hospital planning and construction". More recently recorded are the unusual examples of patient graffiti
Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
, carved into the stonework of the Victorian building.
Closure
In the early 2000s, a government report heavily criticised the standards of accommodation and care at the hospital. A patient had also died in 1999 after being administered a rapid tranquilisation when medical checks had not been carried out correctly. By April 2003, the vast majority of the 1,200 patients had been relocated to other mental health facilities, with only 100 expected to remain in a new unit on the site. Carmarthenshire Council purchased the old hospital buildings in 2003, at a cost of £3 million, to prevent the national government using them to house asylum seeker
An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and m ...
s.
Hywel Dda University Health Board
Hywel Dda University Health Board (HDUHB) ( cy, Bwrdd Iechyd Prifysgol Hywel Dda) is the local health board of NHS Wales for the west of Wales. Established on 1 October 2009 from the merger of the Hywel Dda NHS Trust, the Pembrokeshire Local H ...
operate the Cwm Seren, Tudor House, and Ty Bryn psychiatric units on the original hospital's Jobswell Road site, now renamed Parc Dewi Sant (St David's Park).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint David's Hospital, Carmarthen Grade II listed buildings in Carmarthenshire Former psychiatric hospitals in Wales Hospitals established in 1865 1865 establishments in Wales Hospitals in Carmarthenshire Hywel Dda University Health Board