Rauceby Hospital, originally called

Kesteven The Parts of Kesteven ( or ) are a traditional division of Lincolnshire, England. This division had long had a separate county administration (quarter sessions), along with the two other Parts of Lincolnshire, Lindsey and Holland. Etymology T ...

County Asylum, is a now-defunct mental institution in the parish of Quarrington,

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

, England. Originally opened in 1902, the main hospital building was closed in 1997 and the site has since been redeveloped.

History

The hospital was designed by

George Thomas Hine George Thomas Hine FRIBA (1842–25 April 1916) was an English architect. His prolific output included new county asylums for Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire, Surrey, East Sussex and Worcestershire, as well as extensive additions to many others. Bi ...

using an "

echelon ECHELON, originally a secret government code name, is a surveillance program (signals intelligence/SIGINT collection and analysis network) operated by the five signatory states to the UKUSA Security Agreement:Given the 5 dialects that use ...

layout". Construction began in 1897 and it was officially opened as Kesteven County Asylum on 20 June 1902. The gardens were designed under a separate contract by William Goldring. An isolation unit, built in 1919 on the western edge of the site was never used as such; instead it housed those residents working on the farm. The facility became Kesteven Mental Hospital in 1924 and Rauceby Mental Hospital in 1933. In 1940 the building was taken over by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

; renamed as No.4 RAF Hospital Rauceby, it became a crash and burns unit under the control of nearby

RAF Cranwell Royal Air Force Cranwell or more simply RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England, close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. Among other functions, it is home to the Royal Air Force College (RAFC), which trai ...

. During its tenure as a burns unit

plastic surgeon Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes craniof ...

Archibald McIndoe worked at the facility, along with other members of the " Guinea Pig Club". The wartime Burns Unit was situated in Orchard House, built alongside the hospital orchard. There was a major fire in the hall in 1945 and it was badly damaged although it was subsequently restored. The RAF handed the hospital back for civilian use in 1947 and it 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 " ...

as Rauceby Hospital in 1948 although patients did not actually return until 1949. After 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 through a period of decline and finally closed in December 1997. The site was subsequently developed for residential use by

David Wilson Homes David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

as "Greylees". The former isolation unit, now known as Ash Villa, functions as a 12-bedded in-patient unit for age 12–18 years within the child and adolescent mental health services under the control of the Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Hospital buildings completed in 1902 Hospitals in Lincolnshire Defunct hospitals in England Former psychiatric hospitals in England Military hospitals in the United Kingdom Municipal hospitals Sleaford