St Bernard'S Hospital

St Bernard's Hospital is a lunatic asylum built in 1829 by William Alderson, with additions and alterations made in 1854 and 1857 by John Harris, along with further changes in the late 19th century. The building is constructed of yellow brick and features a low slate roof with a parapet. It has a basic 'U' shaped plan with octagonal pavilions at the center and ends, and wings extending to the east and west from the outer octagons. The northern ballroom extension was added in 1854, while the southern extension from the central octagon in 1857 provided kitchens and dining facilities. There are late 19th-century blocks attached to the central and outer courtyards, which are not of special interest. The hospital is two storeys high, with an attic and basement. It has round-headed windows on the ground and first floors set in round-headed gauged brick reveals, most of which retain their original iron glazing bars with circular rotating opening lights. A stone band runs between the ground and first floors, with a thicker stone band above the first floor. The attic storey, added in 1857, features square-headed architraved windows, many of which still have original cast iron glazing bars with sliding opening lights. There is a stone cornice and parapet at the attic level, and the octagons are topped with arcaded drums. The hospital is historically significant for its innovations in psychiatric care, including a form of occupational therapy and the large-scale abolition of mechanical restraints under Superintendents Sir William Ellis and Dr John Conolly. Parts of the hospital built after the 1850s are not considered of special interest.