York Historic Environment Record

Mental asylum, now a mental health hospital. Built between 1793 to 1797 to designs by John Bevans of London in consultation with William Tuke for The Society of Friends (Quakers). The construction was supervised by Peter Atkinson of York. Further extensions and alterations during C19 and C20. Modernised 1957 to 1965. MATERIALS Main asylum building and wings: orange-cream brick in Flemish bond with stone cornices, Westmorland slate roofs with brick stacks. Boundary walls: orange-cream brick in random bond with stone coping, some with cast-iron railings. Boiler house: orange-cream brick in English garden wall bond. The Lodge: orange brick with white brick and stone dressings, slate roofs and brick stacks. Nurses’ home: orange brick in English bond and part-rendered walls, brick and sandstone dressings slate roof and brick stacks. West Villa (York House): rendered walls, small, orange tiles to the roof. Recreation Hall: orange brick with stone dressings and a slate roof. Male nurses’ hostel: orange brick in stretcher bond with a sandstone cornice and slate roof with brick stacks. PLAN: the hospital is a multiple phase complex. The original front range has a square central block containing the main staircase with long wings on each side with wide spine corridors with rooms opening off both sides. The whole range is of three bays with a basement (1793 to 1797, with second floors of the wings added between 1837 and 1839). Attached to the north-west corner is a projecting wing (1826) housing the kitchen, with the nurses’ home (1897 to 1899) on the west side. Attached to the north east corner is the remaining part of another projecting wing (1824) housing the board room, with the recreation hall (1907) attached on the east side. On the south side a long central passageway connects the front range to the T-shaped Lodge (1875 to 1877) to the south. Attached to the south-east corner of the front range is a large L-shaped wing (1852 to 1854), which housed men, with communal rooms off the south side of a corridor and individual patient’s rooms off spine corridors in the return range. Attached to the south-west corner is a similar large L-shaped wing (1858 to 1860), which housed women, with a similar layout. On the south side of the south-east wing is a large boiler house (1920s) with the male nurses’ hostel (1937 to 1940) attached to its south side. On the south side of the south-west wing is the West Villa (York House) (1889), with rooms off spine corridors. See Historic England list entry for full details