St David'S Hospital

St David's Hospital in Carmarthen, Wales, was a mental health hospital which operated from 1865 until the mid 2000s. The main Victorian building is Grade II listed. HistoryThe hospital opened as the Carmarthenshire, Cardigan and Pembrokeshire County Asylum in 1865, with room for 212 patients. The architect was David Brandon. His substantial three-storey buildings were designed in an Italianate style and included men's and women's wards, day rooms, offices, a grand dining hall and a chapel. There were workshops and exercise yards for patients. The asylum had its own water towers and a gas works. In 1870 and 1878 - 80 additional wings were added and early examples of cavity walling to the ventilation towers. In 1883-89 an ambitious new chapel was built, seating 500, funded by private patients and also built entirely by the asylum's inmates. The chapel included an multicoloured interior using strips of polychrome glazed brick. By 1929 the asylum was known as the Joint Counties Mental Hospital and, in 1948 (on arrival of the National Health Service) became St David's Hospital. Capacity grew to include 940 beds by 1971. In 1981 the buildings were given a Grade II listing, as "an architectural ensemble of note, incorporating the latest ideas on hospital planning and construction". More recently recorded are the unusual examples of patient graffiti, carved into the stonework of the Victorian building.

St David's Hospital in Carmarthen, Wales, was a mental health hospital which operated from 1865 until the mid 2000s. The main Victorian building is Grade II listed. HistoryThe hospital opened as the Carmarthenshire, Cardigan and Pembrokeshire County Asylum in 1865, with room for 212 patients. The architect was David Brandon. His substantial three-storey buildings were designed in an Italianate style and included men's and women's wards, day rooms, offices, a grand dining hall and a chapel. There were workshops and exercise yards for patients. The asylum had its own water towers and a gas works. In 1870 and 1878 - 80 additional wings were added and early examples of cavity walling to the ventilation towers. In 1883-89 an ambitious new chapel was built, seating 500, funded by private patients and also built entirely by the asylum's inmates. The chapel included an multicoloured interior using strips of polychrome glazed brick. By 1929 the asylum was known as the Joint Counties Mental Hospital and, in 1948 (on arrival of the National Health Service) became St David's Hospital. Capacity grew to include 940 beds by 1971. In 1981 the buildings were given a Grade II listing, as "an architectural ensemble of note, incorporating the latest ideas on hospital planning and construction". More recently recorded are the unusual examples of patient graffiti, carved into the stonework of the Victorian building.