The (1^st Middlesex) County Asylum at Hanwell, also known as Hanwell Insane Asylum was built for the pauper insane and has evolved to become the West London Mental Health (NHS) Trust (WLMHT). The 2^nd Middlesex was Colney Hatch Asylum opened in 1851 and the 3^rd being Banstead Asylum (in Surrey) opened 1877. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1860x756, 340 KB)This shows the main gate way to the London County Asylum at Hanwell at the end of the Victorian period c. ... Image File history File links Dot4gb. ... Image File history File links Gb4dot. ... The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... Hanwell is a town situated in the London Borough of Ealing in west London, between Ealing and Southall. ... The West London Mental Healthcare NHS Trust (WLMHT) was established 1st October 2000. ... Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum (or Friern Hospital) was a hospital located in Colney Hatch in what is now the London Borough of Barnet. ... HM Prison Highdown is a mens prison in Belmont, Sutton, in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead, overlooking Banstead Downs. ...

Its first superintendent became famous in his own lifetime for his pioneering work and his adherence to his 'great principle of therapeutic employment' (developed at his previous post at Warwickshire Asylum) and amazed his many sceptical contemporaries, that at Hanwell such therapy speeded up recovery.^[1] This greatly pleased the visiting Justices of the Peace (JPs) as it ultimately reduced the long term costs of keeping each patient. Under the third superintendent John Conolly the institution became world famous for being the first 'large' asylum to totally dispense with all mechanical restraints.^[2][3] John Conolly (May 27, 1794 - March 5, 1866), English physician, was born at Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, of an Irish family. ...

It lies next to the village of Hanwell from which it gets its name but parochially belongs to the suburb of Southall (and before a boundary change it was in Norwood).^[4] It is some eight and a half mile from London which lies to the south east and six and a half from Uxbridge to the west. (O/S map ed 1896) Hanwell is a town situated in the London Borough of Ealing in west London, between Ealing and Southall. ... Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Southall, UK. Southall Broadway, November 2005 Glassy Junction pub, November 2005 For people named Southall, see Southall (surname) Southall (Middlesex) is a London suburb in the London Borough of Ealing. ... Norwood Green is a place in the London Borough of Ealing. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Uxbridge is a place in the London Borough of Hillingdon in West London, England. ...

The building is well situated on a gently sloping 'river gravel terrace' which are a common feature of the Thames river valley. This terrace was formed during the cold wet periglacial periods of the quaternary. The land immediately to the east was further cut down by what is known today as the river Brent, which still flows alone its eastern parameter. At its southern boundary is the Grand Union Canal and a flight of six locks. Both the southern wall of the old asylum and the flight of locks have been designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument.^[5] This meets the western boundary of Windmill Lane at the Three Bridges, (which is also a Scheduled Ancient Monument). Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and opened in 1859, it consists of a cast-iron trough carrying the Grand Union Canal over the Great Western Railway and a cast-iron bridge carrying the public highway Windmill Lane over the other two. So, it is actually only two bridges. This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... The Thames Valley is generally the region that drains into the River Thames, England, but is used in a more specific term by the government. ... Periglacial refers to places in the edges of glacial areas, normally those related to past ice ages rather than those in the modern era. ... The Quaternary Period is the geologic time period from the end of the Pliocene Epoch roughly 1. ... The Brent is a river in south-east England. ... The canal at Braunston The Grand Union Canal is a canal in England and part of the British canal system. ... Canal locks in England. ... A Scheduled Ancient Monument is defined in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 and the National Heritage Act 1983 of the United Kingdom government. ... Brunel before the launching of the Great Eastern. ... The original Bristol Temple Meads station, first terminus of the GWR, is the building to the left of this picture The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company, linking South West England, the West Country and South Wales with London. ...

Today the building also serves as the head offices of the West London Mental Health NHS Trust (WLMHT). Although the on-site facilities have been reduced and scaled down from what was once the world's largest asylum, it is still very much involved with the treatment and research into serious mental distress. A prior Trust created the London West Mental Health R&D Consortium^[6] which also has its administrative base there. On the land released by scaling down the old mental hospital, there is now a complex of other buildings known as Ealing Hospital NHS Trust built on the old asylum's recreational grounds and cycle track to the east. At the back of the main building are some disused wards that still belong to the Regional Health Authority. Formerly the St. ...

The WLMHT currently act as guardians of the Corsellis Collection, containing some nine thousand specimens dating back to the 1950s. No larger depository of this speciality is known. WLMHT also run Broadmoor High Secure Hospital in Crowthorne, Berkshire. Broadmoor Hospital is a maximum secure psychiatric hospital in Crowthorne in Berkshire. ... Crowthorne is also a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa Crowthorne is a small town and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest district of south-eastern Berkshire. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Medical terms in this article: are in the context of what was legally correct usage for that period where they appear in the text. Therefore, terms as: feeble-minded, idiot, imbecile, lunatic etc., are not intended to cause offence.

Early History

The building of the asylum was made possible through several Acts of Parliament and statutes still drive the changes in mental health care into the present day. The more important ones and other notable dates are:

County Asylums Act (1808)

The context which made it possible to create an asylum in Middlesex might be best understood from drawing attention to the 1808 County Asylums Act. This recognised lunatics as being ill, being held in the wrong institutions and who would possibly 'recover' if given the right type of treatment. Non-recovery would mean the insane pauper would always need to be looked after and hence cost more in the long run. The war with France had cost much. Moreover, industrialisation was causing some parishes to grow in population and so have a greater number of people in need than the existing system of charitable institutions and workhouses could cope with. This 'acceptance' of insanity being an illness can almost be seen as an attempt to improve the health of local finances rather than that of the poor or for to meet any other high need of humanity.

"Whereas the practice of confining such lunatics and other insane persons as are chargeable to their respective parishes in Gaols, Houses of Correction, Poor Houses and Houses of Industry, is highly dangerous and inconvenient" ^[7]

Therefore, the 1808 Act was passed to empowered County Justices of the Peace (JPs) to construct asylums. However, since this was to be financed out of the local rates the notion was very unpopular and the JPs had thus to consider their positions (i.e., did they want to hold onto their jobs(?) -as the election of their posts was each year). The downside to this, as already mentioned was the cost of keeping lunatics in jails and workhouses was charged to the parishes in which they were born, and with no assistants to get well again the costs to the parishes continued unabated.^[8] To make matters worse (and a factor often overlooked) the Corn Law kept food prices high whilst the Enclosure Act of 1813 removed the means for poor people to use the common lands to support themselves, causing mental distress to increase amongst the already impoverished. The Inclosure Acts were a number of United Kingdom Acts of Parliament which inclosed common land in the country. ...

Decision to build asylum (1827)

It was not until concern about the disproportionately high number of lunatics in Middlesex, grew so high and unmanageable, that the local judiciary (in front of whom the lunatics would have been brought charged with various offences or running amok) decided on 15th November 1827 that it was time to exercise their powers and build an asylum.^[9] In the following year Parliament in recognition of some of the barriers to asylum building passed the 1828 Metropolitan Commissioners in Lunacy Act with the purpose of ensuring the previous acts were obeyed thus given the JPs powers to progress things more rapidly. (Norris & Alen)

The building (1829- 1831)

The layout of the asylum c.1850

Work on the new asylum started in 1829 on land most of which (44 acres) was purchased from the Earl of Jersey. The architect was William Alderson, a Quaker. His neo-classical design consisted of central octagonal 'panopticon' tower of a basement and two floors. The windows have a tall aspect with semicircular bonded gauge brick arches at the top. Two wings of one basement and one floor only (in the 'corridor form' style) going east and west.^[10] They then both turn north and each terminate at it own panoptican tower, which again have a basement and two floors, thus forming in plan view: a building around three sides of a square. The east side of the central tower was intended for the male patients and the west for the females. With germ theory beginning to be developed around this time, spreading the wards out in this manner was thought to help reduce the spread of infections. The central tower was adored with a monumental clock procured from Messrs. John Moore & Sons of 38/39 Clerkenwell Close, London (this was later moved to the Chapel tower -see the lithographic print below) ^[11] In November of the same year building work started again on the first of the extensions (there was more expansion again in 1837, 1857 and 1879). Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (575x975, 40 KB)This image shows to lay out of departments and facilities at the Asylum at Hanwell in the 1850s Source: The Pictorial Handbook of London: Comprising Its Antiquities, Architecture, Arts, Manufacture. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (575x975, 40 KB)This image shows to lay out of departments and facilities at the Asylum at Hanwell in the 1850s Source: The Pictorial Handbook of London: Comprising Its Antiquities, Architecture, Arts, Manufacture. ... The Right Honourable George Child Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey PC (August 19, 1773–October 3, 1859) was the son of George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey. ... Panopticon blueprint by Jeremy Bentham, 1791 The Panopticon is a type of prison building designed by English philosopher Jeremy Bentham in the late eighteenth century. ...

The newer extensions which were added in 1857-59 are readily identifiable, in so much as they have flat bonded arches to the tops of the windows.

In 1999 the exterior of the building (just those parts of the building which are still in use and seen seen by the general public) got cleaned with a proprietary dilute hydrofluoric acid preparation, removing nearly one and three quarter centuries of grey grime and soot to reveal the rough golden yellow colour of the bricks, which is characteristic of handmade 'London stocks'. One can still see original small cast iron ventilation grills that show the Middlesex County Shield with the three Saxon swords incorporated into the design, indicating that it was first owned by the Middlesex County Council (MCC). The famous parade helmet found at Sutton Hoo, probably belonging to King Raedwald of East Anglia circa 625. ...

Upon entering the building one is struck by the economy in the proportioning of space for a building of this period, until one remembers that it was not built as a grand residence or proud civic building but purely a functional work space and home for the treatment of insane paupers. This unfortunately lead to the building having poor ventilation, and together with overcrowding may be the reason behind the high rates of TB before the age of antibiotics. This was made worse in that the asylum filled up so quickly that basements were converted into sleeping dormitories and even a few extra wards. To this end earth was dug away from the basement walls and widows fitted. This worked quite well for much of the east side where the ground almost 5 metres lower than on the west due to the slope of the gravel terrace. Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for Tubercle Bacillus) is a common and deadly infectious disease that is caused by mycobacteria, primarily Mycobacterium tuberculosis. ...

Finally, the most people get to see of the hospital, is the elegantly proportioned gatehouse entrance; that adjoins the Uxbridge Road. It takes the form once again of a neoclassical large and solid half circular arch, over tall vertical barred, iron gates, which incorporate a small pedestrian gate with its own key lock. Any harshness in the architectural solid lines are softened somewhat by the vine creepers that envelop the upper parts. Surprisingly, it is built from pale gray Gault bricks which are not only gauged but had to be brought in from afar, and so commanded premium prices. It also supports on the north side of the building a blue Ordnance Survey Bench Mark; type: flush bracket; No. S1016. This point was measured to be 69.279 feet (21.116 metres) above mean sea level.^[12] The Gault Clay is a formation of stiff blue clay deposited in a calm, fairly deep water marine environment during the Lower Cretaceous Period (Upper and Middle Albian). ...

Middlesex County Asylum at Hanwell 1831 - 1889

Under the administration of the local Committee of Visiting Justices of Middlesex County Council. The Middlesex Guildhall at Westminster Middlesex is one of the 39 historic counties of England and the second smallest (after Rutland). ...

The asylum opened on the 16 May 1831 by taking in twenty-four male patients and eighteen female patients.

Dr William & Mildred Ellis

The first superintendent was Dr William Charles Ellis (later knighted) presided together with his very capable wife Mildred Ellis who held the post of matron, from the opening in 1831 until he resigned in the summer of 1838.^[13] Sir William Charles Ellis was born in Alford Lincolnshire. ...

In this age of enlightenment it had been found essential for recovery that the patients could get out into full daylight, take in fresh air and to walk about and exercise, so the ground floor wards had 'airing courts' which where shared by the other wards upstairs. These were pleasantly laid out areas with seating and bounded by walls or railings so as they could not wander off. When a patient had somewhat recovered their wits they were allowed to walk and work in the surrounding fields. The asylum had its own carpentry, bakery, brewery, dental departments, fire brigade, gasworks, laundry, shoemakers, smithy, tailors, farm, church and burial ground etc. (See diagram of the layout of the asylum). It was as self-sufficient as it could be. The asylum paid the canal company for taking water from the canal and had its own dock to receive barges. This was very convenient for receiving coal deliveries, which was used not only for heating but for producing gas for illumination.

Hanwell Asylum, The Chapel - c.1875

Originally planned to house 450 patients with space for a further 150 it was cut back to 300 with space for another 150 due to perhaps the fear of an outcry if the local rate increased too sharply. At first the number of paupers admitted was low due to the charge of nine shilling per week each, this being higher than the workhouses and jails, but by force of the law the asylum was in six months and with more space badly needed. Therefore, in November of the same year work on building extensions began and so started the almost continuous process of rebuilding and improvements that go on into the present day.^[14] Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 540 pixelsFull resolution (4591 × 3101 pixel, file size: 3. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 540 pixelsFull resolution (4591 × 3101 pixel, file size: 3. ...

Anatomy Act (1832)

When a person died in the asylum, their friends or relatives were free to remove them for burial. Failing this, the deceased was interned in unmarked paupers grave in the hospitals own burial ground. Come the new Anatomy Act of 1832, the body was first kept in a building called the 'dead house' (which was situated to west side of the burial ground. (See diagram of asylum layout above) and if unclaimed after 72 hours could be sold to (licensed) anatomy schools. The Act also provided for people who wished to donate the bodies upon death. Inspiration for this Act was came from the 1828 trial and conviction of Burke and Hare the body snatchers. William Burke (d. ...

As permission to perform autopsies need not be sought from the local coroner they became common at the hospital. Starting in 1845, the results of these autopsies were recorded in detail by Dr. Hitchman.^[15]

John Conolly (1839)

John Conolly
(1794 - 1866)

John Conolly took up residence as the third superintendent on the 1st June 1839. When his appointment came though earlier in April, Serjeant Adams, who was one of the Visiting Justicies of the asylum (and a circuit judge who often visited Lincoln, the county of Conolly's birth) suggested that Conolly visit the Lincoln Asylum and see the system worked out by Mr Gardiner Hill.^[16] So impressed by what he saw there that he was convinced to do everything he could to abandon all mechanical restraints at Hanwell. This must have taken enormous powers of persuasion, since the existing staff would have to abandon old habits and learn how to nurse more effectively those patients who's illness exhibited itself in troubling behavior. This however, seemed to avoid the patient from suffering still further trauma from being restrained and made to feel totally helpless. The fact that he did this in only three months (accomplished by 21st September 1839) is also possible testament to the earlier work of Ellis.^[17] Image File history File links Size of this preview: 405 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (4792 × 7098 pixel, file size: 4. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 405 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (4792 × 7098 pixel, file size: 4. ...

Something of his success can be gained from this extract of the first page of the sixty-eighth report of the Visiting Justicies.
"The Visiting Justices have the satisfaction to find that every year , as the excellence of the non - restraint System becomes more generally recognized, affords fewer Materials in the Asylum for Comment or Report. For four years it has been the settled Rule of the House, that no harshness nor coercive cruelly should be used in any case, but that every patient, however violent, should be treated with uniform kindness and forbearance; and during that time such as been the undeviating success of this Plan, such as been the even tenor of it course, that it now presents no new fact nor features either to vindicate or explain. This is the more extraordinary, as it rarely happens that a Theory can be brought into practice without losing a Portion of its presumed Efficiency." ^[18]

(Serjeant Adams was also, a founding member and first chairman of Leagal & General) Legal & General Group Plc is a British based financial services company that provides life, health and other insurance, as well as pensions and investments. ...

The Illustrated London News (1848)

Full page illustration and short article was published in The Illustrated London News on January 15th 1848 about how Twelfth Night was celebrated at the Hanwell Asylum.^[19]

The Brewery closes (1888)

In 1888, the earlier 1879 Act of Parliament to facilitate the control and care of Habitual Drunkards was made permanent (and the term 'Habitual Drunkard' changed to 'Inebriate'). As Hanwell would take in such patients for up to a year, this Act was seen as a reason to close the brewery.

Although the sedatives Paraldehyde (invented 1829 by Wildenbusch) and chloral hydrate (in 1832 by Justus von Liebig) were known about, they where not used (except for perhaps recreational purposes) in medicine. It was not until about the 1800s when people like Emil Kraepelin studied them, that their medical usefulness was considered. [2] Of course, these were too dangerous to replace the traditional sedative whilst patients consumed alcohol daily. So this may have been the window for the adoption of synthetic concoctions and potions. Paraldehyde is the cyclic form of three acetaldehyde molecules (a trimer). ... Chloral hydrate, also known as trichloroacetaldehyde monohydrate, 2,2,2-trichloro-1,1-ethanediol, and under the tradenames Aquachloral, Novo-Chlorhydrate, Somnos, Noctec, and Somnote, is a sedative and hypnotic drug as well as a chemical reagent and precursor. ... Freiherr Justus von Liebig (May 12, 1803 in Darmstadt, Germany – April 18, 1873 in Munich, Germany) was a German chemist who made major contributions to agricultural and biological chemistry, and worked on the organization of organic chemistry. ... Emil Kraepelin (February 15, 1856–October 7, 1926) was a German psychiatrist who attempted to create a synthesis of the hundreds of mental disorders classified by the 19th century, grouping diseases together based on classification of common patterns of symptoms, rather than by simple similarity of major symptoms in the...

London County Asylum, Hanwell 1889 - 1918

Under the administration of the London County Council. London County Council emblem is still seen today on buildings, especially housing, from that era London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London from 1889 until 1965, when it was replaced by the Greater London Council. ...

Nurse Hilda Elizabeth Wolsey — (1910)

Nurse Hilda Elizabeth Wolsey on 11th June 1910 followed a female patient who had climbed up one of the fire escapes and along the guttering of the ward roof. She held on to the patient until help arrived and they could both be lowered to the safety of the ground. For this act of heroism she was awarded the Albert Medal. ( In 1971 surviving holders of the Albert Medal were invited to exchange their decoration for the more suitable George Cross; which she did. She died on 11 March 1974 in Ealing, West London.)^[20] The Albert Medal for Lifesaving was instituted by Royal Warrant on 7 March 1866 and discontinued in 1971. ... The George Cross (GC) is the highest Commonwealth decoration awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry not in the face of the enemy, while the Victoria Cross is awarded for valour in the face of the enemy. ...

County Mental Hospital, Hanwell 1918 - 1937

Aerial view of the hospital c.1920

Still under the administration of the London County Council, Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1866x1071, 1199 KB)This photograph shows St. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1866x1071, 1199 KB)This photograph shows St. ...

The photograph to the right shows St. Bernard's hospital when it was called the County Mental Hospital, Hanwell.

The area shown is covered by Grid Ref: 514552,179994 (TQ 145 799 GB Grid)

Taken in the first half of the 1920s one can see that the large nurses home has still not been built in the top right corner of the frame. It has since been demolished. Further to the top right is the Iron Bridge at the junction of Uxbridge Road (A 4020) and Windmill Lane (A 4127) which runs south to the left of the frame. Running down the left-hand side is a section of the 'Flight of Locks' on the Grand Union Canal.

For overhead aerial view of Hospital today take external link to Goole Maps: [3]

Also, come the 1920s there is sufficient bed capacity to ensure that no one, who too ill, to keep within the laws of the land (or avoid getting misled by others into transgressing the law) need be sent to gaol.^[21]The prison population has subsequently fallen many fold. It was always the fool who was the easiest to convict, as they are basically honest, they would readily agree to what they had done when it was put to them. Also, if they 'hadn't' done such an act they might still confess anyway due to the way the illness and its resulting social isolation affects their desire to please anyone who suddenly takes an interest in them. The prison population now continued at around this low level for some years.

St. Bernard's Hospital, Hanwell 1937-1980

Under the administration of the London County Council until 1948 when responsibility was transferred to the new National Health Service - North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board, which under reorganization became in 1974 the North West Thames Regional Health Authority with local power invested in the Ealing District Health Authority , the information in this article describes the current English public health service. ...

War years (1939-1945)

The hospital had one ward turned over to act as the local Emergency Medical Services (EMS) centre, to cater for the extra casualties of war.^[22]

The hospital and its grounds received several bombs during the second war. This was mostly due to the proximity of two strategic targets: the AEC factory in Windmill Lane which build Fighting vehicles and the Wharncliffe Viaduct which carried the Great Western Railway (GWR), an important arterial route. As some of the UBX's fell wide and into the soft sediment of the river Brent they are probable still there. However, a V1 or Doodle bug was not so obliging and hit the laundry causing many casualties. This event is mentioned in a personal account by Simon Tobitt in WW2 Peoples War.^[23] The Gatehouse also received some bomb damage. An armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is a military vehicle, equipped with protection against hostile attacks and often mounted weapons. ... The original Bristol Temple Meads station, first terminus of the GWR, is the building to the left of this picture The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company, linking South West England, the West Country and South Wales with London. ... Unexploded ordnance (or UXOs/UXBs) are explosive weapons (bombs, shells, grenades, land mines, naval mines, etc. ... The Vergeltungswaffe 1 Fi 103 / FZG-76 (V-1), known as the Flying bomb, Buzz bomb or Doodlebug, was the first modern guided missile used in wartime and the first cruise missile. ...

Dr. Max Glatt (1958)

Dr. Max Meier Glatt, (born January 26 1912; died May 14 2002).^[24] One of the pioneers in the treatment of people with an addictive personality trait. Appointed as a consultant in 1958 he set up an alcohol dependency unit in a female ward. Overcoming many managerial obstacles; his approach of creating a therapeutic community was found to be a great success. In 1962 this was moved and became a drug and alcohol dependence unit; now known as the Max Glatt Unit and situated in 'A' Block, and next to the Tony Hillis wing. Run currently by the Central North West London Mental Health NHS Trust; Substance Misuses Service^[25]

Psychiatric Unit 1980 - 1992

North West Thames Regional Health Authority via the Ealing District Health Authority

The local District Health Authority following Government edict to close the smaller cottage hospitals and maternity units, and bring health services together on one multi-disciplinary site, changed the name of the grounds to 'Ealing Hospital.' However, the new nomenclature given to describe the new layout and various buildings was found to go against all natural intuition and so forced people to keep resorting to the name St. Bernard's Hospital to make it clear that they where referring to the psychiatric parts run by the WLMHT and 'Ealing Hospital' when referring to the District General Unit building - which is administrated by a totally separate public sector corporation or Trust. Even by 2006 the old name is often used in internal communications and in-house publications and some National Service web site still give the address as St. Bernard's Hospital. This approach has proven an effective Coping mechanism against the Petronius syndrom. Likewise: its geographical attachment depends on context. For postal communications it is in Southall, for non clinical administration it is referred to as the 'Ealing site' and to the people to whom it serves -it remains in Hanwell. A coping skill is a behavioral tool which may be used by individuals to offset or overcome adversity, disadvantage, or disability without correcting or eliminating the underlying condition. ... Petronius (c. ...

Three Bridges Regional Secure Unit - opened 1985

Run by the Forensic Directorate, this unit was named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Three Bridges that lays only a few hundred feet away to the west. One of the wards has been named after the rastafarian dub poet and mental health campaigner Benjamin Zephaniah. Brunel before the launching of the Great Eastern. ... Haile Selassie I Rasta, or the Rastafari movement, is a religion and philosophy that accepts Haile Selassie I, the former Emperor of Ethiopia, as God incarnate, whom they call Jah. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Benjamin (Obadiah Iqbal) Zephaniah (born 15 April 1958, Handsworth, Birmingham, England) is a British Rastafarian writer and dub poet, and is well known in contemporary English literature. ...

West London Healthcare NHS Trust 1992 - 1999

West London Healthcare NHS Trust achieves 'Trust' status and becomes a public sector corporation.

24th July 1992
John Conolly Wing (JCW) opened. Incorporating the Adult Acute, Rehabilitation, and Elderly Mentally Ill (EMI) wards. Ground floor also has a room each for Art and Music therapy, plus a dinning area, whilst on the first floor is a Post room and on the north-eastern quadrant is the ECT suit, Phlebotomy and some administration offices. The first floor lobby is connected to the the near by general hospital to the north by an enclosed aerial corridor which spans an intervening service road. Supported upon slender concrete posts, it is some one hundred and twenty feet in length. The feature was inspired by the then government dictum that 'local psychiatric units should be an integral part of the district hospitals.' Policy had changed again by the time the new wing had been built - still remains locked and un-perambulated.

North West Thames Regional Health Authority abolished 1994
New authority: North Thames Region until 1996 and the Ealing District Health Authority is also abolished.
Replaced by NHS Strategic Health Authority (SHA): Ealing & Hammersmith & Hounslow (EHH) . A Strategic Health Authorities or SHA is part of the structure of the NHS. England is split into 28 Strategic Health Authorities, set up in 2002. ...

Major refurbishment (1998)

Started in February 1998 St. Bernard's main building under goes a major refurbishment.^[26] It costs in excess of four and a half million pounds sterling and takes about eight months. Finally the exterior brickwork gets cleaned and netting is strategically placed the deny the local Rock Pigeons a roost. Binomial name Columba livia Gmelin, 1789 The Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) is a member of the bird family Columbidae, doves and pigeons. ...

Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham Mental Health NHS Trust 1999 - 2001

Ealing & Hammersmith & Hounslow Health Authority (EHH)

West London Mental Health NHS Trust 2001 - present

Ealing & Hammersmith & Hounslow Health Authority (EHH) until 2006
Existing Strategic Heath Authority amalgamated with other London SHA's to become The 'London SHA'.

The current West London Mental Health (NHS) Trust was established 1st October 2000 under order number 20002562, took over administration 2001. Currently the Trust management is exploring the possibility of becoming a NHS Foundation Trust. This will give it more flexibility to better meet the needs of the people who live in the locality that it serves; and to whom it will become accountable. Should this come about in the time frame hoped for, then the long psychiatric tradition at Hanwell will have just finished celebrating its terquasquicentennial anniversary to have arrived back to having similar freedoms arrangements that its first superintendent William Ellis enjoyed -when first opened 175 years ago. The wheel will have gone full circle. The West London Mental Healthcare NHS Trust (WLMHT) was established 1st October 2000. ... An NHS Foundation Trust, or commonly called a foundation hospital, is a public benefit corporation which is authorised to provide goods and services for the purposes of the National Health Service in England under the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003. ... An anniversary (from the Latin anniversarius, from the words for year and to turn, meaning (re)turning yearly; known in English since c. ...

Tony Hillis Wing (2001)

Named after the late Tony Hillis, OBE, RMN, RGN, Dip MS. Formerly the Deputy Director of Nursing on this site. He was a great supporter of patient involvement. He also took the position of being very much non-judgemental towards those he cared for. Opened September 17th 2001, this unit serves as the local medium secure. The catchment area consists of the London boroughs of:

• Ealing,
• Kensington Chelsea
• Westminster
• Hillingdon
• Brent
• Harrow
• Barnet

plus the counties of: The London Borough of Ealing is a London borough in the west of the city. ... The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (often abbreviated to RBKC) is a London borough in the west side of central London. ... The City of Westminster is a London borough with city status, situated to the west of the City of London and north of the River Thames. ... The London Borough of Hillingdon is the westernmost borough in London, England and forms part of Outer London. ... The London Borough of Brent is a London borough in north west London and forms part of Outer London. ... // The London Borough of Harrow is a London borough of outer northwest London. ... The London Borough of Barnet is a London borough in North London and forms part of Outer London. ...

• West Hertfordshire,
• East Hertfordshire
• North Hertfordshire
• Bedfordshire.

West Hertfordshire was a parliamentary constituency in Hertfordshire. ... East Hertfordshire is a local government district in Hertfordshire, England. ... North Hertfordshire is a local government district in Hertfordshire, England. ... Bedfordshire (abbreviated Beds) is a county in England that forms part of the East of England region. ...

Wells unit (2006)

Wells is a new medium secure unit opened in June 2006. It has been designed to accommodate up to ten adolescents between the ages of 12 to 18 years. Statutory education is provided to those still of school age and other educational pursuits are offered.

It is named after an artesian well to the west of the site in an area now called the Orchard Unit. The application for Planning Permission for the Orchard had to be resubmitted in order that it could be built further south to avoid chance of damage due to possible future subsidence. This is quite apart from it being considered a wonderful example of fine Victorian engineering of significant archeological interest and thus worthy of presivation.

Here is a description of it published in 1854:
The asylum is supplied with water from an artesian well, which is considered to be the best in the kingdom. The shaft, to a depth of 31 ft., is 10 ft. in diameter, and thence to a further depth of 209 ft., 6 ft. in diameter, together, 240 ft.; the whole of which is constructed of brickwork in cement. The boring was commenced at the bottom of the shaft, with pipes of 14 in. Internal diameter; these are carried down about 50 ft., into the stratum of flint stones overlaying the chalk formation, making the whole depth from the surface about 290 ft., whence the water rises into a tank, 20 ft. Above the ground-floor of the asylum, without the aid of pumps, at the ratio of 90,000 gallons per diem.^[27]

In passing: This source of water is still considered economically viable today: Only just back in September 2002, Brixton PLC applied for water extraction license from the Environment Agencyin Hatfield for its site on the opposite side of the hospital's boundary with Windmill Lane. (see also the List of environmental organizations) The Environment Agency (Welsh: Asiantaeth yr Amgylchedd) of England and Wales was created by the Environment Act 1995, along with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. ... Arms of the former Hatfield Rural District Council Hatfield, originally Bishops Hatfield, is in the Welwyn Hatfield district of Hertfordshire, in the south of England. ...

Trivia

Film

The hospital was used for shooting some scenes of Stephen Poliakoff's film She's been away (1989). Dame Peggy Ashcroft stared as Lillian Huckle; a women who was institutionalized 60 years before whilst still a young girl, simply because she did not conform to social norms. Stephen Poliakoff Stephen Poliakoff (born December 1, 1952) is an acclaimed British playwright, director and scriptwriter, widely judged amongst Britains foremost television dramatists. ... Dame Peggy Ashcroft (December 22, 1907–June 14, 1991) was an English actress. ...

In the film The Bargee (directed by Duncan Wood 1963) which starred Hugh Griffith and Eric Sykes, the two charters go down the flight of locks with the Hospital in the background. Duncan Wood,(b. ... Hugh Emrys Griffith (May 30, 1912 – May 14, 1980) was a film actor. ... Eric Sykes in the Sykes TV series (DVD) The Plank (DVD cover) Eric Sykes, CBE (born May 4, 1923 in Oldham, Lancashire) is a British comedic writer and actor. ...

In Literature or prose

...my eye caught an omnibus on which was written "Hanwell."

Men deny hell, but not, as yet, Hanwell.

G. K. Chesterton is inspired to question: Who really should be -considered mad? ^[28] Gilbert Keith Chesterton (May 29, 1874–June 14, 1936) was an influential English writer of the early 20th century. ...

Theater

Hanwell Insane Asylum was mentioned in George Bernard Shaw's 1916 play "Pygmalion". Phonetics Professor Henry Higgins after successfully telling strangers where they were born by their accent, was jokeningly told he came from Hanwell Insane Asylum. George Bernard Shaw (born 26 July 1856, Dublin, Ireland died November 2, 1950, Hertfordshire, England) was an Irish writer. ... Pygmalion is a Greek name, probably going back to Phoenician roots. ... Henry Bournes Higgins (30 June 1851 - 13 January 1929), Australian politician and judge, always known in his lifetime as H. B. Higgins, was a highly influential figure in Australian politics and law. ...

Museum

Reverend H A Norris, (a former chaplain to the hospital) realized in the early 1980s that there were still old records at hospital which were historically important and should join the others in the GLC Records Library. He feared these would be thrown out by staff who did not appreciate their historical value. Getting little cooperation from officials, a dedicate band of volunteers formed the 'Museum Committee' to help. They searched out, recovered and thus saved much of the hospital heritage. This also included mechanical restraints, ECT machines, some of the old fixtures and fitting. The largest item by far was an original 'seclusion room' with leather covered straw padding walls and floor. Also on display was a letter written by Arthur O'Connor. He had been committed to Hanwell on May 6th 1875 for firing an unloaded pistol at Queen Victoria earlier on the 29th February.^[29] The purpose of writing was to petition for his release; which was granted on the 16th November 1876. He never came to the attention of the authorities again.

Mention should here also be made of the work of long time administrative staff member Pauline May, without whose tireless work in the 1990s, much of the museum artifacts would have been lost for ever.

Despite its growing reputation and size (taking up the whole of the available space in the disused church), the lack of any fiscal recognition made it impossible to provided staff to assist the many visitors who wished to view and study the collection. Therefore, it has now been dispersed to, and can be seen at:

• Bethlem Royal Hospital Museum. [4]
• London Metropolitan Archives
• Wellcome Trust
• Gunnersbury Park Museum. [5]

The Bethlem Royal Hospital of London, which has been variously known as St Mary Bethlehem, Bethlem Hospital, Bethlehem Hospital and Bedlam, is the worlds oldest psychiatric hospital. ... The London Metropolitan Archives are the main archives of the Corporation of London. ... The Wellcome Trusts Gibbs Building on Euston Road The Wellcome Trust is a United Kingdom-based charity established in 1936 to administer the fortune of the American-born pharmaceutical magnate Sir Henry Wellcome. ...

See also

• The Glenside Hospital Museum. Accessed 2007-06-05

• Weale, John (1854). The Pictorial Handbook of London: Comprising Its Antiquities, Architecture, Arts, Manufacture. London: H.G. Bohn, pages 601-. OCLC: 1387135. 

• Martineua, Harriet The Hanwell Lunatic Asylum Description of the Ellis system; published in Tait's Edinburgh Magazine. June 1834 Roberts, Andrew (1981)The asylums index. Middlesex University, London, England. Retrieved on 2006-10-07

External links

• Photographs of St. Bernard's Hospital. County Asylums (December 2005). Retrieved on 2006-10-02.

• The local voluntary Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) Forum. Retrieved on 2006-10-05

• Transport for London: Bus services to and from Hanwell. Accessed 2007-06-05

• National Rail Station: Hanwell. Accessed 2007-06-05

For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... October 2 is the 275th day of the year (276th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

References