Kingseat Hospital is a former mental health facility near

Newmachar Newmachar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, about 10 miles (16 km) to the north-west of Aberdeen. The settlement has a long history previously being known as Summerhill within the parish of New Machar, later being renamed Newmachar. ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

, Scotland. Some of the old hospital buildings now form the central area of the village of

Kingseat Kingseat is a village in Fife, Scotland, approximately northeast of Dunfermline. It was originally a coal mining village with the first pits sunk in the area in the mid 1800s. The name of the village is thought locally to have originated from w ...

History

The hospital, which was designed by

Alexander Marshall Mackenzie Alexander Marshall MacKenzie (1 January 1848 – 4 May 1933) was a Scottish architect responsible for prestigious projects including the headquarters of the Isle of Man Banking Company in Douglas, and Australia House and the Waldorf Hotel in ...

using a village-type layout, opened as the Aberdeen District Asylum in May 1904. Six additional villas were added later. The hospital was used as a naval hospital for wounded sailors who had been serving on

arctic convoys The Arctic convoys of World War II were oceangoing convoys which sailed from the United Kingdom, Iceland, and North America to northern ports in the Soviet Union – primarily Arkhangelsk (Archangel) and Murmansk in Russia. There were 78 convoys ...

or the

atlantic convoys A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and then joined the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

as Kingseat Hospital in 1948. 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 c ...

in the early 1980s, the hospital went into a period of decline and closed in April 1994. Many of the buildings have been demolished and the site has been redeveloped by Avant Homes for residential use.

New Zealand Kingseat

The New Zealand Kingseat Hospital (New Zealand) was named after the Scottish one, after Dr. Gray (Director-General of the Mental Health Division of the Health Department) returned from an overseas trip and felt it appropriate to have a sister hospital with the same name in New Zealand.

References

{{authority control Hospitals in Aberdeenshire Hospital buildings completed in 1904 1904 establishments in Scotland Hospitals established in 1904 1994 disestablishments in Scotland Hospitals disestablished in 1994 Former psychiatric hospitals in Scotland Defunct hospitals in Scotland