Ridge Lea Hospital, Lancaster

History

During the nineteenth century Lancaster became a provincial centre for the treatment of mental illness. In 1809 it was decided that the proposed County Lunatic Asylum would be built at Lancaster; a recognition of Lancaster’s status as the county town.

Lancaster Moor Hospital was Lancashire’s first County Lunatic Asylum. The decision to build it was taken in 1809, one year after the permissive County Asylums Act, 1808. The hospital opened in 1816 as the ‘County Lunatic Asylum for the County Palatine of Lancaster’. It was only the fourth asylum to be built under the terms of the Act in the country. It was extended in 1824 and 1883, and by 1891 it accommodated 1833 patients. In that year its administration was transferred to the new Lancashire Asylums Board of Lancashire County Council. Additional buildings, known as Ridge Lea, on the ‘villa’ principle were added in 1907, 1909, 1912, 1916 and 1938. These buildings were chiefly to accommodate private patients.

The Asylum is a stately quadrangular building of stone, with a handsome front, relieved by pillars of the Doric order, and at one time could hold up to 3,200 patients. The annexe completed in 1882 at a cost of £125,000, occupies a site comprising an area of about 41 acres. The buildings are constructed of stone; in the centre of the block over the main entrance is a clock tower about 100 feet in height, and there are smaller ones at the front extremity of each wing. The main part has been listed as Grade II and the whole building itself is in excellent condition. Since the hospital's closure in 2000, the Annexe and chapel have been converted into apartments, and houses are being built in the grounds.

Source:
https://www.asylumprojects.org/index.php/Lancaster_Moor_Hospital

Esoteric Eric

The Gun Barrel Shed, Durham

History

Originally a foundry building where gun barrels were manufactured the building is now unfit for modern foundry techniques and is used for storage on the Weardale Railway.

Esoteric Eric

Murray Royal Hospital, Perth

One from October 2019 recently released for public consumption. 

History

The Murray Royal Hospital is a mental health facility in Perth, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Tayside. The original main building is a Category A listed building.

The hospital arose from a bequest by James Murray, a local man who had inherited considerable wealth after his half brother died at sea. The facility, which was designed by William Burn in the neoclassical style using a corridor plan layout, opened as James Murray's Royal Lunatic Asylum in 1828.

Additional wings, designed by Burn, were added in 1833 and Pitcullen House, a neighbouring property, was acquired for use as a superintendent's residence in 1849. More wings, this time designed by Andrew Heiton Junior, were added in 1888 and two villas were added in 1904. The hospital joined the National Health Service as James Murray's Royal Mental Hospital in 1948.

After the introduction of Care in the Community in the early 1980s, the hospital went into a period of decline and such a large facility was no longer necessary: a modern facility, designed by Atkins and built by Morgan Sindall Group and Robertson Group at a cost of £75 million on the same site, opened in June 2012. The new facilities include the Rohallion Secure Care Clinic which incorporates both a low secure unit and a medium secure unit.

Source:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3604858432977161284/5732144154937281146

Esoteric Eric

Sigma Soap, Lancashire

History

The site of a former cotton mill most recently used by Sigma Soap. Rossendale Borough Council has granted permission for 30 houses on the site.

Esoteric Eric

Convent of the Holy Name, Malvern

History

The Community of the Holy Name (CHN) is an international Anglican religious order for women.

The community was founded in 1865 by Father George William Herbert (3 October 1830 – 14 November 1894), parish priest of St Peter's Church, Vauxhall, London. Mother Frances Mary was not the first mother superior, but she and Father Herbert drew the fledgling group of sisters together into a vibrant community. The community was originally called St Peter's Sisterhood and worked alongside the parish priest and his assistants in helping the deprived and poor of the parish. By 1876 the community had taken as its dedication "The Holy Name of Jesus", thus reflecting a vocation of reaching out to others in the name of "Jesus, Saviour". The founders drew inspiration from both the Catholic and Evangelical movements.

In 1887 the mother house (the Convent of the Holy Name) was established at Malvern Link, Worcestershire, while mission houses remained in London and elsewhere in the UK. The chapel (1891-3) at Malvern by Sir Ninian Comper and William Bucknall is now a Grade II* listed building.

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_of_the_Holy_Name

Esoteric Eric