Hey, I have been a member of 28DL for around 3 years and have been visiting sites for around the same amount of time, yet have never posted a report, so this will be my first. Please let me know what i can improve on and if i have done anything wrong. I am not a photographer so my photos are pretty shoddy and i was so excited to get in that i forgot to take photos of the outside. I also apologize if this is really image heavy.
I traveled to this location with my friend Tammi on one of the few warm days we have had in Scotland this year. We went over the space of two days and found something new each time and i know there has definitely been some things we have missed. This is still an active site in areas and we had to dodge a could of patients on our drive into the site, however a really interesting place with loads of cool items and history.
Stratheden Hospital
Stratheden Hospital, or Fife and Kinross District Asylum as it was first known, opened on July 1st 1866.
Purpose built to accommodate up to 200 mental health patients, the initial patient roster was 159.
The first chief physician, Dr Tuke, was regarded highly as a doctor who changed the traditional methods of mental health care and helped pioneer the "open door" policy of the hospital. The reporting commissioner was impressed by this and noted that not one of the patients had abused it, including an inmate from Perth Prison who had been transferred to the hospital. The patients health benefitted greatly from this advancement in treatment and it was noted by the reporting commissioner that this led to the patients becoming "more contented and less destructive."
In 1896 the hospital underwent a vast extension programme in order to ease overcrowding. It was described by the reporting commissioner as "a valuable and instructive advance in asylum administration". Over £20,000 was spent, in order to increase the capacity of the hospital to 600. In 1900 the Springfield estate was completely purchased, and by 1905 two new hospital wings had been opened, to accommodate the large influx of in-patients seen by the hospital at the time.
The Springfield Mental Hospital Group, which was the governing body for the surrounding local mental health hospitals, was changed to the Fife Mental Hospital Board of Management. The NHS Act was implemented fully by 5th July 1948. On the 7th July 1948, just two days later, it was decided that Fife and Kinross District Asylum was to also undergo a name change. Implemented in January 1949, Fife and Kinross District Asylum was changed to what we now know as Stratheden Hospital.
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I traveled to this location with my friend Tammi on one of the few warm days we have had in Scotland this year. We went over the space of two days and found something new each time and i know there has definitely been some things we have missed. This is still an active site in areas and we had to dodge a could of patients on our drive into the site, however a really interesting place with loads of cool items and history.
Stratheden Hospital
Stratheden Hospital, or Fife and Kinross District Asylum as it was first known, opened on July 1st 1866.
Purpose built to accommodate up to 200 mental health patients, the initial patient roster was 159.
The first chief physician, Dr Tuke, was regarded highly as a doctor who changed the traditional methods of mental health care and helped pioneer the "open door" policy of the hospital. The reporting commissioner was impressed by this and noted that not one of the patients had abused it, including an inmate from Perth Prison who had been transferred to the hospital. The patients health benefitted greatly from this advancement in treatment and it was noted by the reporting commissioner that this led to the patients becoming "more contented and less destructive."
In 1896 the hospital underwent a vast extension programme in order to ease overcrowding. It was described by the reporting commissioner as "a valuable and instructive advance in asylum administration". Over £20,000 was spent, in order to increase the capacity of the hospital to 600. In 1900 the Springfield estate was completely purchased, and by 1905 two new hospital wings had been opened, to accommodate the large influx of in-patients seen by the hospital at the time.
The Springfield Mental Hospital Group, which was the governing body for the surrounding local mental health hospitals, was changed to the Fife Mental Hospital Board of Management. The NHS Act was implemented fully by 5th July 1948. On the 7th July 1948, just two days later, it was decided that Fife and Kinross District Asylum was to also undergo a name change. Implemented in January 1949, Fife and Kinross District Asylum was changed to what we now know as Stratheden Hospital.
