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Exeter City Asylum
Founded in 1886 and became Digby Hospital under the NHS.
Situated in Woodwater Lane, Exeter.
Exminster
- White Directory
Devon
County Pauper Lunatic Asylum
is an extensive & handsome building,
pleasantly situated about 3.5 miles south of Exeter. The first stone was laid
June 27, 1842, & the building was finished in 1845, at the cost of about £60,000,
including the sum paid for the 24A of land, now tastefully laid out in gardens,
lawns, yards etc. The house has accommodations for 400 patients; & the
wards, galleries & apartments are spacious, airy & well ventilated. The
centre building comprises the dispensary & the residences of the supt.,
matron etc. Around these, are encircled & connected with corridors, the sick
& day rooms of the patients, & other necessary apartments for the
attendants. From this circle radiate 6 wards, comprising the bedrooms of the
inmates. On the ground floor is a neat chapel; & the open spaces between the
wards are appropriated as airing grounds for the patients. This large house of
refuge for those afflicted with the worst of maladies, is under the control of
the county magistrates & T E Drake Esq, of Exeter, is the secretary.
Source: White Directory 1850 p.406
Submitted by Betty Longbottom
Plympton House for Lunatics
Plympton St Mary, Devonshire
1851 census - HO/107/1877
Folio 401 Page
24
Richard Langworthy - Surgeon
Anne Langworthy - Wife
St Thomas Hospital for Lunatics
1801-1869 Bowhill House
Later became Wonford House Hospital.
Founded as Private Asylum for Upper Middle Classes.
Moreton Road, St Thomas Apostle, Devonshire.
1851 census - HO/107/1867
Folio 127 Page
12
William Dashwood Kingdon - Medical Superintendent Physician
Augusta Brutton - Matron
St
Thomas' Hospital - White Directory
near Exeter, is a Lunatic Asylum, in the suburban parish of St Thomas. It was
founded in 1801, when Bowhill House was purchased for its use at the expense of
about £2650, including the cost of the furniture & repairs. Above £9000
has since been laid out in additional buildings & furniture.
This institution, for the safe keeping & medical treatment of those
afflicted with the worst of human maladies, was founded long before the County
of Devon Lunatic Asylum at Exminster. From its foundation in 1801, to Lady Day
1848, the number of patients admitted was 1461, of whom 759 had been discharged
as cured.
The hospital is an extensive building, standing on rising ground, in a
salubrious situation. The rooms are spacious & well ventilated, & the
windows command extensive views of the surrounding country. The gardens &
airing grounds are extensive, & there are 5 in-door galleries, two of which
are 112 ft long & 8 ft broad, & one of the others is 119 ft long & 8
ft broad. These galleries & the other arrangements admit of a convenient
& satisfactory classification of the patients. The affairs of the hospital
are under the immediate direction & control of the Governors &
Treasurer, & it has attached to it 2 physicians, a chaplain, a Resident
Medical Superintendent, a consulting surgeon, a matron, & 9 female & 5
male attendants.
The general management permits of amusements & means of moral &
intellectual improvement; & those patients who may safely be trusted without
the walls, are permitted to visit their friends, & to take walks &
drives in the neighbourhood. Whilst enjoying the retirement & quiet of a
private asylum, this hospital is really a public institution , subject to the
inspection & supervision of the Commissioners in Lunacy, but not under the
control of the County Magistrates. The expenses are defrayed, in a great
measure, by the board of the patients, whose friends can afford to pay for their
maintenance, the amount of which is about £1500 per annum. This is aided by the
interest of benefactions & legacies, & by annual donations &
subscriptions. Thomas William Gray, Esq, is treasurer; W D Kingdon MD, resident
medical superintendent; Miss Augusta Brutton, matron; & the Rev J F Turner,
chaplain. P Miller & T Shapter are the physicians, & C K Webb is the consulting surgeon.
Source: White Directory 1850 p.105
Submitted by Betty Longbottom
Records
Available
Devon Records Office Web Site
http://www.devon-cc.gov.uk/dro/
Exeter
Castle Street,
Exeter
EX4 3PU
Barnstaple
Tuly Street,
Barnstaple,
EX32 7EJ
Plymouth
Unit 3,
Clare Place,
Coxside,
Plymouth,
PL4 OJW
Useful Links
Devon County Lunatic Asylum
http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/genuki/DEV/DevonIndexes/Asylum1880.html
Page updated August 06, 2007
by Rossbret
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Devon Asylums