real time web analytics
Report - - Sunnyside Royal Hospital - Montrose - Feb 2017 | Asylums and Hospitals | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Sunnyside Royal Hospital - Montrose - Feb 2017

Hide this ad by donating or subscribing !

Krypton

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Bit of history..

Sunnyside Royal Hospital was a psychiatric hospital located in Hillside, north of Montrose. The hospital was originally founded in 1781 by Susan Carnegie as the Montrose Lunatic Asylum, Infirmary & Dispensary and obtained a Royal Charter in 1810.

In 1858, a new improved asylum was completed to the north of Montrose in the village of Hillside on lands of the farm of Sunnyside and the old site was vacated. This site was further developed with the construction of a new facility for private patients called Carnegie House in 1899. Despite this addition, overcrowding was a problem, as the asylum's patient numbers had grown to 670 by 1900. In 1911 the lease of Sunnyside Farm finally expired and over 52 acres were purchased for the sum of £4500.

In 1948, the National Health Service 1946 (Scotland) Act brought the hospital under control of the Eastern Regional Hospital Board. Its name was changed from the Royal Asylum of Montrose to the Royal Mental Hospital of Montrose. In 1962 it became Sunnyside Royal Hospital and came under the jurisdiction of new management. During the 1950s and 1960s, the introduction of new drugs lessened the need for prolonged admission of patients.

The site was officially closed in late 2011 and most patients were sent to a new £20 million build at nearby Stracathro Hospital - the Susan Carnegie Centre. Others were placed in the community. Sunnyside was open for 230 years before its closure, and was the oldest psychiatric hospital in Scotland.


Our visit:
We visited here on our recent Scotland trip not entirely sure what to expect. There was tons of people strolling around walking dogs so we were able to have a good mooch around the massive site before heading to have a look at some of the buildings. It's great to be able to walk through a door from one ward to another and immediately step back in time 30 years. It would have been good to have had a look at some of the other buildings but our visit was unexpectedly cut short when several vehicles from the local police force arrived. We sat it out for a bit and luckily they left, but with a security van also doing the rounds fixing and checking boards we figured a hasty exit was needed. The buildings do have PIR's and although some don't appear to be working, some of them probably are!


Main Building

32319263783_56c7eff590_c.jpg


33093045066_1817207135_c.jpg


32311076834_9ab988cacc_c.jpg

Lovely glass corridors

32773487280_ab787abaf8_c.jpg


32311080754_84c52dbf1c_c.jpg


33156210735_49c95025f4_c.jpg




Recreation Hall

33156209695_d6b3ccd711_c.jpg

The scenery on the stage was lovely, and a sign found below from the 1980's reports that it is over 140 years old.

33028939881_efd3a829d7_c.jpg


32311061814_5f4b073f7d_c.jpg

My pictures from the hall all came out a bit crap. Old photos show a Pipe Organ with an ornate case sat up on the balcony.

32311057014_72fac6ba2a_c.jpg


33000050032_29df2c4d49_c.jpg

Radio Sunnyside

33156207075_21e16d2bca_c.jpg

Formal Dining Room


Modern Wards

32311000394_bc3b4091ab_c.jpg


32311078324_10033b17aa_c.jpg


33040235551_5e0360507d_c.jpg



Old Wards

33156062855_afe7a588df_c.jpg


33126184436_354ceb588f_c.jpg

From 1939 (courtesy of sunnyside.me.uk)

33156070865_d7479f50a3_c.jpg


32310947134_a84874a8e0_c.jpg


33156048665_23965bae70_c.jpg


33156039435_cac87d968f_c.jpg


32773351270_fef1292961_c.jpg


33156056585_d80ea1c264_c.jpg


32773353330_59a8f89561_c.jpg



continued..







 

Krypton

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Kitchens & Dining Hall


33040232631_525d5450e2_c.jpg



33167840235_acb2f9ffa9_c.jpg



33167836945_14c50b9b9f_c.jpg



33167838745_bb1cd641e1_c.jpg



32322728474_a168ff05b2_c.jpg


Kitchens in 1939 (courtesy of sunnyside.me.uk) - it look calm, sparse and incapable of cooking for the best part of 1000 patients and staff! Notice the mixer on the LH side - it's still here..


33167835435_f2aba57ec5_c.jpg



Admin


33040238791_454fc1e5e5_c.jpg



33040236941_95b67d195a_c.jpg



33040240451_1db16237c1_c.jpg


I managed one shitty pic of the basement rooms underneath admin before it all started kicking off - definitely more to see down here..







The Infirmary

The Hospital Board took the decision to build an additional 60 bed Infirmary in 1886 to cope with increasing demands on the main buildings. It was completed in 1891 and appears to have been brought out of use around 1996, with some parts clearly being disused for much longer. Sadly, this building is suffering from a very bad case of dry rot with floors crumbling everywhere.


33000074312_27c52cc226_c.jpg



33134759535_01f1457107_c.jpg



33007605471_b40356029b_c.jpg


'The Rich and the Poor meet together - the Lord is the maker of them all'

The sign above the main entrance to the Infirmary.


33000081652_a488c6fe50_c.jpg



32773524620_3cf7a71590_c.jpg


Female Lounge


33000076352_d26cf02cde_c.jpg


Typical type dormitory


33039628451_237b0ae67e_c.jpg


View of the same dormitory in 1939 ( courtesy of sunnyside.me.uk)


32784545520_9aa5492199_c.jpg


Infirmary Dining Hall


32784678290_7370d18798_c.jpg


The Dining Hall in a disused but clean condition taken in 2001 prior to destruction by dry rot. (courtesy of canmore.org.uk)


32351987893_64ac616123_c.jpg



33000085992_6834ab9355_c.jpg



33156240005_85525d9d05_c.jpg



33000089492_f9bd443f84_c.jpg


Nice old glazed tiles hidden away..


Definitely more to see here - theres lots more buildings. I'd say we only covered half.

Krypton :)
 

Mr Sam

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
one i would love to see a bit more of as i grew up not far away and we were always threatened with "you will get sent to Sunnyside if you misbehave"
 

ASOM

One-Man Urbex Art Army
28DL Full Member
Nice collection! I know it's abandoned/dilapidated now, but how much nicer did it look in the 30s before modernisation!
 

Krypton

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Nice collection! I know it's abandoned/dilapidated now, but how much nicer did it look in the 30s before modernisation!
Completely agree - it certainly looks nice and homely and a lot less 'clinical'. Some people would never leave the asylum for the rest of their lives after being admitted so the homely surroundings were probably a good idea. Shame most of the character gets either ripped out or covered up..
 

ASOM

One-Man Urbex Art Army
28DL Full Member
Completely agree - it certainly looks nice and homely and a lot less 'clinical'. Some people would never leave the asylum for the rest of their lives after being admitted so the homely surroundings were probably a good idea. Shame most of the character gets either ripped out or covered up..

It seems to be the way in most asylums - pictures from the Victorian era through to 1930s (just pre-NHS) always seem to look like they've gone for a "homely" feel - lots of dark wood, loads of plants, flowers and soft furnishings everywhere, mirrors, paintings, vases and other decorative stuff. Then post NHS it's all bright, clean stark surfaces, vinyl flooring, the glazed tiles are painted over, architectural features and details covered-up (sometimes for practicality, like the lowered-ceilings for fire-safety and to reduce heating bills, but sometimes just modernised and changed into something much more stark and functional looking seemingly for the sake of it) and basically turned into something that looks far more like an institution, rather than the "stately home" look they seemed to have gone for in the past. I know which I'd rather spend my time in.
 

raisinwing

28DL Regular User
Regular User
Looks like a belter, really great set of photos. Especially liked the inclusion of the archive photos within your report.
 

Speed

Got Epic?
Regular User
It seems to be the way in most asylums - pictures from the Victorian era through to 1930s (just pre-NHS) always seem to look like they've gone for a "homely" feel - lots of dark wood, loads of plants, flowers and soft furnishings everywhere, mirrors, paintings, vases and other decorative stuff. Then post NHS it's all bright, clean stark surfaces, vinyl flooring, the glazed tiles are painted over, architectural features and details covered-up (sometimes for practicality, like the lowered-ceilings for fire-safety and to reduce heating bills, but sometimes just modernised and changed into something much more stark and functional looking seemingly for the sake of it) and basically turned into something that looks far more like an institution, rather than the "stately home" look they seemed to have gone for in the past. I know which I'd rather spend my time in.

Think it's the opposite really. The old pictures look very much like institutions yet as time went on they tried to make them more homely and comfortable. Alot of modernisation is purely down to the way of the times tho rather than consideration towards patients.
 
Top