Other Info: Bedlam Hospital
1.
Bethlem is the world's oldest institution caring for people with mental
disorders. It has been a part of London since 1247 and many people,
rich and
poor, have played a part in its history.
2.
In 1247 a Priory of St Mary Bethlehem was founded near Bishopsgate.
Historical documents tell us that by 1330 the Priory had a hospital
attached,
and as long ago as 1377 it was recorded that 'distracted' patients
were being cared for at the hospital. Thus began the hospital's long
association with
the care of the insane. In the 14th century however, care for such
patients was a far cry from today's standards. Patients were simply
chained to a wall
and whipped or immersed in cold water if they became unruly or violent.
Unfortunately for many years the standards of care didn't improve
much.
Under the Reformation in the 16th century the Priory was dissolved,
but the hospital continued as an asylum for the insane under the name
of
Bethlehem Royal Hospital. In 1675 the hospital moved site to a new
building near to the present day Moorgate tube station. It was in
the 17th century
that the hospital was first open to the public, the unfortunate inmates
being seen as a form of cheap entertainment. It was during the same
period that
the hospital became better known by its nickname Bedlam - a word that
has entered the English Dictionary as meaning chaos and confusion.
Soon a visit to Bedlam became one of the most popular sights in London,
and the numbers of visitors had to be restricted by a ticket scheme.
Public
viewings of the patients continued into the early 19th century until
public opinion moved against the practise. By the early 19th century
the building
was declared unsafe and so a new hospital (also called Bethlehem Royal
Hospital) was erected south of the River Thames near Lambeth Road,
and was
opened in 1815. For a while the new hospital also housed the criminally
insane, but in 1864 criminal patients were moved to Broadmoor hospital.
It wasn't until 1930 that Bedlam closed and the patients moved to
other hospitals. In 1936 the various blocks of the hospital were demolished,
leaving just the central building which is now home to the Imperial
War Museum.
3.
Bedlam (Bethlem, or Bethlehem Hospital) is the world's oldest psychiatric
hospital or madhouse. It has been a part of London since 1247, first
as a
priory for the sisters and brethren of the order of the Star of Bethlehem.
Its first site was in Bishopsgate Street. In 1330 it is mentioned
as a hospital,
and it is documented that in 1403 some of the first lunatics were
there. In 1547 Bedlam was handed over by Henry VIII with all its revenues
to the
city of London as a hospital for lunatics. It became famous and afterwards
infamous for the brutal ill-treatment meted out to the insane. In
1675
Bedlam was removed to new buildings in Moorfields, outside the City
boundary. In the 18th century people used to go there to see the lunatics.
For a
penny one could peer into their cells, view the freaks of the "show
of Bethlehem" and laugh at their antics. The lunatics were first
called "patients" in
1700, and "curable" and "incurable" wards were
opened in 1725-34. In 1815, Bedlam was removed to St George's Fields,
Lambeth. Finally, in 1930,
the hospital was moved out of London, to Eden park near Beckenham,
Kent. Bethlem was most notably portrayed in a scene from William Hogarth's
A
Rake's Progess (1735), the story of a rich merchant's son whose immoral
living causes him to end up in a ward at Bethlem. This reflects the
view of
the time that madness was a result of moral weakness.