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Report - - North Wales Hospital, Denbigh, December 2010 | Asylums and Hospitals | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - North Wales Hospital, Denbigh, December 2010

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ZerO81

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member

History

With the Lunatic Act passed in 1808 every county in the country was to provide an institute for the mentally ill, but by 1840 North Wales was still without such an institution because the poor rural communities could not afford to erect one. This meant that the most seriously ill pauper lunatics were sent to the English Asylums.

Building of the Hospital started in 1844. Plans were drawn up by Mr Fulljames of Gloucester under the guidance of his friend, Dr S. Hitch. The Hospital was constructed from limestone bricks produced by the Graig Quarry near Denbigh and was regarded as the finest structure of its type. The building work was completed four years later and opened on the 14th of November, 1848 and was able to house up to 200 patients. The clock tower was donated by a Mrs. Ablett in memory of her husband who donated the land for the Asylum.

The hospital was under ever increasing pressure to support its patients and relieve over-crowding, this led to a number of extensions occurring through out its life; the most major extension work happened in 1899. This allowed the Hospital to house 1500 patients at its peak and offer a wide range of treatments.

Denbigh Hospital was initially put up for sale by the North Wales Health Authority after it closed in 1995, but initial bids of around 1 million were refused.

The site was eventually sold for £155,000 in 1999.

The Visit

We arrived at the hospital just before first light and made our way inside. We waited it out until there was enough light to navigate our way around and headed further into this (once) magnificent place.

We arrived at the remains of the central corridor which at one time surrounded the main hall and just stood there for what must have been a couple of minutes in disbelief, what has happened to Denbigh? Since my last visit in March, she has gone downhill considerably, what was once a slightly frustrating task of navigation has now turned into a complete nightmare, it seems as if every corner you turn there is a big hole which was once the floor upstairs, the past nine months have not been kind at all.

The destruction is that bad now that we could not even seem to find a way (internally) to get to the admin building and those amazing front doors.

The Photos

[1]
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[2]
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[3]
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[4] & [5]
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[6]
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[7] & [8]
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[9] & [10]
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[11]
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[12] & [13]
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[14]
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[15]
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[16]
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[17]
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[18]
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The final couple of images are a little update on the current location of some of the hospital's most well known items.

[19] - The Wheelchair
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[20] - The 'Denbigh Baby'
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