Bedford Lunatic Asylum

The Bedford Lunatic Asylum was a mental health facility. It opened in 1812 and closed in 1860.

Bedford Lunatic Asylum
1820 Drawing of the Asylum by Thomas Fisher
Location within Bedfordshire
Geography
LocationBedford, United Kingdom
Coordinates52.121°N 0.471°W / 52.121; -0.471
Organisation
TypePsychiatric hospital
Services
Emergency departmentNo Accident & Emergency
History
Opened1812
Closed1860
Links
ListsHospitals in the United Kingdom

History

Samuel Whitbread headed the committee which commissioned the asylum. The Bedford Lunatic Asylum, designed by John Wing, was opened in April 1812. In 1845, the UK parliament passed a new act requiring that counties either build their own asylums or operate an asylum jointly with another county. Many other counties did not build asylums like Bedford,[1] so there were now twice as many inmates in the asylum and not enough staff to help with their needs. Bedford's neighbouring counties, Hertfordshire and Huntingdonshire, then sent patients to Bedford. In 1860 the three counties combined asylums in Fairfield Hospital near Arlesey and the Bedford Lunatic Asylum closed soon after.[1]

Renovation

The site of the asylum is now a residential building. The bodies of patients that died at the hospital are now buried underneath the children's playground.[2]

See also

References
  1. Edwards, Susan (1 January 1993). "A proper house: Bedford Lunatic Asylum (1812–1860)". Medical Hististory. pp. 96–97. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  2. "The Lunatic Asylum, Bedford". Cecil Higgins Art Gallery. Retrieved 23 September 2018.

Further reading
  • Cashman, Bernard (1992). A proper house : Bedford lunatic asylum (1812-1860). Bedford: North Bedfordshire Health Authority. ISBN 0-9513626-2-3.
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