Northern Counties District Lunatic Asylum, Leachkin Road, Inverness

The Northern Counties District Lunatic Asylum, now Craig Dunain Hospital, was built in 1864 on a sloping site southeast of Inverness, with extensions added in 1901, including staff accommodation. The main building is a long, two- and three-story range of 45 bays, with projecting gabled wings at both the front and rear. It is constructed of rubble with dressings of tooled and polished Tarradale sandstone.

The central bay of the front has a slightly projecting gabled section with a stepped hoodmould enclosing a datestone, and a tall, pointed-headed window above with cusped tracery. Similar detailing is found on the first-floor windows on either side of the centre. The central bays are linked to the flanking gabled wings by square towers with pyramidal roofs, capped by brattished platforms, forming a shallow U-shaped forecourt.

To the east and west of the central range are symmetrical ward blocks arranged 5-1-7-1, with projecting gabled bays. Each block has a three-light, three-story projecting window on the inner bay, and two windows on the outer. Pyramidal roofed towers are attached to the latter.

Additional two- and one-story ranges feature varied bay windows and square and circular turrets. The windows are mainly fitted with 2- and 12-pane glazing, with ridge and end stacks and slate roofs. Gabled wings project at the rear of the building. The main entrance is now located at the rear, in an addition dating from circa 1901.

The asylum was initially established in 1864 to accommodate 250 to 300 psychiatric patients, and has since been significantly enlarged. The listing covers only the main block; various freestanding additions and later buildings are excluded. The hospital was documented in Ian Macleod’s "Craig Dunain Hospital, 1864-1964".