__NOTOC__ Stoke Park Hospital, was a large hospital for the mental handicapped, closed circa 1997, situated on the north-east edge of Bristol, England, just within

South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke, the latter three forming ...

. Most patients were long-term residents, both adults and children of all ages. A school was on-site. Prior to 1950, it was known as the Stoke Park Colony, which was founded in 1909. The Burden Neurological Institute, opened in 1939, was co-located at the hospital, and outlasted the hospital on the site to 2000. The associated Burden Neurological Hospital was formed in 1969. The Institute later operated at

Frenchay Hospital Frenchay Hospital was a large hospital situated in Frenchay, South Gloucestershire, on the north east outskirts of Bristol, England, which is now closed. In 2014, it contracted to a few brain and head injuries services. It was managed by North B ...

as a charity, and later as a research grant giving trust.

History

Stoke Park Hospital, clock tower, from south

In 1902 the Rev. Harold Nelson Burden, chaplain at Horfield Prison, and Katharine his wife founded the ''National Institutions for Persons Requiring Care and Control'' to care for mentally disabled children and adults. Following the passing of the Children Act 1908, which allowed "feeble-minded children" to be placed into industrial schools, they rented the Stoke Park estate in 1908, opening the ''Stoke Park Colony for Mentally Defective Children'' on 14 April 1909. The colony was the first institution certified as a home for mentally disabled patients under the

Mental Deficiency Act 1913 The Mental Deficiency Act 1913 was an act of Parliament of the United Kingdom creating provisions for the institutional treatment of people deemed to be "feeble-minded" and "moral defectives". "It proposed an institutional separation so that menta ...

, the Rev. Burden having been a member of the Royal Commission for inquiry into care of the feeble-minded that lead to the Act. The colony was regarded as a leading institution of its type. The Colony expanded by buying surrounding land and building new accommodation blocks. In 1917, it was granted an expanded licence for 1,528 "inmates", making it Britain's largest licensed institution. In 1929 Professor

Richard James Arthur Berry Richard James Arthur Berry FRSE FRCSE (1867–1962) was a British-born surgeon and anatomist who was well-known in Australia. He was author of several internationally recognised books in his field. Early life Berry was born on 30 May 1867, in ...

took over the medical directorship of the hospital. The

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

took over the colony in 1948, which along with the smaller

Purdown Purdown (sometimes spelt Pur Down) is a hill in the north east of Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire t ...

Leigh Court Leigh Court is a country house which is a Grade II* listed building in Abbots Leigh, Somerset, England. The grounds and park are listed, Grade II, on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England. The site ...

and

Hanham Hall Hanham is a suburb of Bristol. It is located in the south east of the city. Hanham is in the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire. It became a civil parish on 1 April 2003. The post code area of Hanham is BS15. The population of this c ...

hospitals, was run by the ''Stoke Park Hospital Management Committee'' with 1,930 beds for patients. Little development took place, with other types of hospital being prioritised, and gradually the hospital became overcrowded and understaffed. The ''Hospital Advisory Service'' visited in 1971 and wrote a damning report on the terrible conditions at Stoke Park. The report was leaked by hospital staff to the media, and the hospital permitted the

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...

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