Royal Albert Asylum

Royal Albert Asylum

Royal Albert Hospital

Royal Albert Asylum at Lancaster
The chief stone of a new asylum for idiots of the six northern counties of England has been laid with Masonic ceremonial by the Earl of Zetland as Grand Master. Upwards of £40,000 of the £60,000 necessary for the erection of the edifice have already been contributed.
The site is a plot of land containing 67 acres, lying 150 ft. above sea-level, and almost a mile south of Lancaster, and has been purchased at a cost of £10,000. As the whole of the necessary funds have not as yet been raised, it has been deemed desirable, and the contracts have recently been let, to erect the building so as to accommodate 500 inmates at a cost of £42,900. It will be erected so as to admit of easy and inexpensive enlargement. The building has been designed in the Gothic style of architecture adapted to modern requirements.
Source: The Builder 1868 Vol XXVI 27th June 1868 p.477
Submitted by Alan Longbottom

The Royal Albert Institution, Lancaster, standing on a commanding site 150 feet above the sea level, about a mile to the south of that Town, was erected in 1868-73, at a cost of £80,000, and is a building of local freestone in the Geometrical Gothic style: the form of the building is that of the letter E, fronting westward to the Ashton Road; facing the entrance is the handsome dining hall. On the south side of this hall are five memorial windows to munificent benefactors. A detached Infirmary has been erected by the munificence of the late Edward Rodgett, esq. of Darwen Bank, Preston, and a fine recreation hall, called the "Winmarleigh Hall" has been added.

The "Ashton Wing" erected at the cost of Lord Ashton, was opened September 26, 1901, for 100 additional patients, and on June 24, 1904 "The Herbert Storey Industrial Schools and Workshops" were presented to the trustees of the institution by Herbert L. Storey esq.

The "James Diggens Memorial Reception House" erected by public subscription as a testimonial to the forty years service of the late principal, was opened 28th June, 1907. Buildings for a farm colony for 40 additional patients are now [1912] in course of erection to afford increased facilities for the permanent care of the inmates.

Brunton House, near the Asylum, has extensive private grounds, and is a home for private pupils attending the schools.

The Institution is intended for the care, education and training of feeble-minded children and young persons belonging to the seven northern counties. The "Brooke" or boys wing was opened 14 September 1870. The Storey Home, for 40 feeble-minded girls was built and furnished by Sir Thomas Storey, and opened in September 1898. A sustentation fund of about £4,000 yearly has been formed from special donations and legacies, but the institutions is largely dependent for support upon annual subscriptions.

The views from the asylum estate of about 205 acres are fine, and include the course of the Lune for many miles. Morecombe Bay and the principal Cumberland and Westmorland mountains.

In September 1912 the Institution contained over 700 patients of two classes:
[1] those admitted for seven years by the votes of subscribers.
[2] paying patients.
The Institution is not intended for epileptic, paralytic, tuberculous, or insane persons, nor for those who are incurably hydrocephalic. Blindness or Deafness are also a disqualification.

Asylum Officers 1913
Samuel Keir, Secretary
Archibald Robertson Douglas, Medical Superintendent
Source: 1913 Kelly's Directory

The word institution was exchanged for Hospital under the NHS in 1948.
Situated in Ashton Road, Lancaster.

LINK to photographs of the Royal Albert Asylum

Record Offices
Lancashire Record Office
Bow Lane
Preston
PR1 8ND
England
Tel: 01772 54868

Page updated March 11, 2008