Wrekenton, Lunatic Asylum
Wrekenton, Lunatic Asylum
HER Number
7868
District
Gateshead
Site Name
Wrekenton, Lunatic Asylum
Place
Wrekenton
Map Sheet
NZ25NE
Class
Health and Welfare
Site Type: Broad
Hospital
Site Type: Specific
Psychiatric Hospital
General Period
POST MEDIEVAL
Specific Period
Hanoverian 1714 to 1837
Form of Evidence
Documentary Evidence
Description
Established by Jacob Gowland in 1825. Known locally as "The Cottage Asylum". The grounds were enclosed by a high wall with a large iron gate. Inmates were housed in cottages. The men and women were taken out daily for exercise or to work in the fields. They frequently begged for cakes and tobacco.
Easting
427370
Northing
558730
Grid Reference
NZ427370558730
Sources
D. Lumley, 1932, The Story of Gateshead Town - From the earliest age to the mid Victorian, p 126