Craiglockhart Hydropathic, now a part of

Edinburgh Napier University , mottoeng = Without knowledge, everything is in vain , established = 1992 – granted University status 1964 – Napier Technical College , type = Public , academic_staff = 802 , administrative_staff = 562 , chancellor = Will Whitehorn , ...

and known as Craiglockhart Campus, is a building with surrounding grounds in

Craiglockhart Craiglockhart (; gd, Creag Longairt) is a suburb in the south west of Edinburgh, Scotland, lying between Colinton to the south, Morningside to the east Merchiston to the north east, and Longstone and Kingsknowe to the west. The Water of Leith ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. As part of a large extension programme by the university in the early 2000s the original building and surrounding campus underwent significant restoration and modernisation as a result many of the original interior features of the building are no longer visible. The exterior of the building has been preserved. Craiglockhart Hydropathic main view

Craiglockhart Hydropathic old and new buildings

Origins

The estate in which the Hydropathic's building lies was sold in 1773 to Alexander Monro, who was second of three generations to be Professor of

Anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...

at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. It stayed in the Monro family for more than a hundred years.

The Hydropathic and the War Hospital

In 1877, the estate became the property of the Craiglockhart Hydropathic Company, who set about building a hydropathic institute. The Hydropathic was built in the Italian style by Architects Peddie & Kinnear. Craiglockhart remained as a hydropathic, until the advent of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Between 1916 and 1919 the building was used as a military

psychiatric Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psy ...

hospital for the treatment of

shell-shocked Shell shock is a term coined in World War I by the British psychologist Charles Samuel Myers to describe the type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) many soldiers were afflicted with during the war (before PTSD was termed). It is a react ...

officers. Probably the most famous patients of Craiglockhart were the poets Siegfried Sassoon and

Wilfred Owen Wilfred Edward Salter Owen MC (18 March 1893 – 4 November 1918) was an English poet and soldier. He was one of the leading poets of the First World War. His war poetry on the horrors of trenches and gas warfare was much influenced b ...

, whose poems appeared in the hospital's own magazine called ''

The Hydra ''The Hydra'' was a magazine produced by the patients of the Craiglockhart War Hospital, noteworthy for having been edited at one time by Wilfred Owen, and for including poems by Siegfried Sassoon. The magazine was headquartered in Edinburgh ...

''.

was the editor of the magazine during his stay. Siegfried Sassoon was sent to Craiglockhart, as a response to his "Soldier's Declaration", an anti-war letter. He later wrote about his experiences at the hospital in his semi-autobiographical novel, '' Sherston's Progress''. There is now an area within the building that celebrates the life and work of both Sassoon and Owen and their meeting at Craiglockhart. The best known of the doctors assigned there was W. H. R. Rivers. The Hospital featured in the 1991 book '' Regeneration'' by

Pat Barker Patricia Mary W. Barker, (née Drake; born 8 May 1943) is an English writer and novelist. She has won many awards for her fiction, which centres on themes of memory, trauma, survival and recovery. Her work is described as direct, blunt and pl ...

, and the 1997 film adaptation by the same name, in which the institution was known as Craiglockhart War Hospital.

Later uses

The building then became a convent for the

Society of the Sacred Heart , image = RSCJnuevo.jpg, , image_size = 150px , caption = , abbreviation = Post-nominal letters: RSCJ , formation = , founder = Saint Sr. Madeleine Sophie Barat, R.S.C.J. ...

, before serving as a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

teacher training college. It then passed to the then Napier College, and was used by that institution and its successor, Napier Polytechnic; thus it is now part of Edinburgh Napier University. Much of the old building has been retained, and an extensive new wing has been built behind it to house the Business School.

References

External links

{{Commercial buildings in Edinburgh Buildings and structures in Edinburgh History of Edinburgh Edinburgh Napier University Category B listed buildings in Edinburgh United Kingdom in World War I Former psychiatric hospitals in Scotland

Origins

The Hydropathic and the War Hospital

Later uses

See also

References

External links