Fair Mile Hospital

Fair Mile Hospital
Formerly NHS
Front facade.
Geography
Location Cholsey, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom
Organisation
Care system Public NHS
Hospital type Psychiatric
Services
Beds over 1,000
History
Founded 1870
Closed 2003
Links
Lists Hospitals in England
Main entrance of the hospital.

Fair Mile Hospital (aka Fairmile Hospital) was a lunatic asylum north of Moulsford[1] and east of Cholsey,[2] near the River Thames between Wallingford and Reading in England, formerly in Berkshire and from 1974 with the boundary changes in Oxfordshire.

The UK 1845 County Asylums Act required all counties to provide residential treatment for those with mental illness.[1] Construction of the hospital began in March 1868.[3] The hospital was opened in 1870 as the County Lunatic Asylum for Berkshire.[4] Previous names include the Moulsford Asylum (1867–97), Berkshire Lunatic Asylum (1897–c.1915), and Berkshire Mental Hospital (c.1915–48).[5][1] The architect George Thomas Hine designed extensions for the building in 1898. The hospital became part of the National Health Service in 1948 under its final name, Fair Mile Hospital.[6] At its peak, the hospital held over a thousand patients.[7] The facility closed in 2003 when use had declined due to modern mental health policy and treatment.[4]

The Victorian buildings remain substantially complete, having been converted to dwellings.[8] The housing development, called 'Fair Mile', opened in 2011.[9] The extant buildings are Grade II listed.[8][10] New housing occupies other parts of the site, largely confined to areas previously used for ancillary structures.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Fair Mile Hospital". UK: Berkshire Family History Society. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  2. ↑ Sloan, Liam (22 September 2010). "Pictures shed light on history of Cholsey psychiatric hospital". Oxford Mail.
  3. ↑ http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/news/features/13351497.Asylum_at_a_village___s_heart/
  4. 1 2 "A History of Fair Mile Hospital 1870–2003". UK: Berkshire Record Office. Archived from the original on 18 July 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  5. ↑ "Fair Mile Hospital". UK: The National Archives. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  6. ↑ "Fair Mile Hospital". Oxfordshire Health Archives. UK: NHS. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  7. ↑ Walker, Ed; Stevens, Mark (19 February 2015). "Life in a lunatic asylum: Fair Mile hospital history revealed". GetReading]. UK. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Fair Mile at Cholsey". Thomas Homes. Thomas Homes. Retrieved 11 April 2018. A landmark redevelopment in rural Oxfordshire forming part of a vibrant new community at Cholsey Meadows. Set within over 100 acres of Registered Park and Garden, and boasting direct access to over a mile-long stretch of River Thames, Fair Mile is truly an exceptional development. The former hospital site, with beautiful Grade II listed Victorian buildings has been sensitively transformed to create dramatic, spacious, energy efficient family homes.
  9. ↑ "Thomas Homes Launches Fair Mile Redevelopment" (Press release). Thomas Homes. 21 September 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  10. ↑ "FAIR MILE HOSPITAL". Historic England. Historic England. Retrieved 12 April 2018.

Further reading

  • Wheeler, Ian (2015). Fair Mile Hospital: A Victorian Asylum. The History Press. ISBN 978-0750956031.

Coordinates: 51°33′51″N 1°08′33″W / 51.5641193°N 1.1424315°W / 51.5641193; -1.1424315

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