The Crichton is an institutional

campus A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a corp ...

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

in southwest Scotland. It serves as a remote campus for the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

, the

University of the West of Scotland The University of the West of Scotland (), formerly the University of Paisley, is a public university with four campuses in south-western Scotland, in the towns of Paisley, Blantyre, Dumfries and Ayr, as well as a campus in London, England. T ...

Dumfries and Galloway College Dumfries and Galloway College is a further education college in Dumfries and Galloway, with campuses in Dumfries and Stranraer. Founded in 1961, the college has flourished to become a leading voice in green energy skills development to help ta ...

, and the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

. The site also includes a hotel and conference centre, and Crichton Memorial Church, set in a park. The campus was established in the 19th century as the Crichton Royal Hospital, a

psychiatric hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...

History

The last, and grandest, of Scotland's royal asylums was founded in Dumfries in 1838 by Elizabeth Crichton of

Friars Carse Friars' Carse is a mansion house and estate situated (NX 926 850) southeast of Auldgirth on the main road (A76) to Dumfries, Parish of Dunscore, Scotland. The property is located on the west bank of the River Nith and is known for its strong as ...

(1779–1862), a wealthy local widow. Elizabeth Crichton's initial intention had been to found a university in Dumfries but she was blocked from doing so by the existing

Scottish universities There are fifteen universities in Scotland and three other institutions of higher education that have the authority to award academic degrees. The first university college in Scotland was founded at St John's College, St Andrews in 1418 by H ...

. The original hospital building, now Crichton Hall, was designed by

William Burn William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival, often referred ...

and opened as the Crichton Institution for Lunatics in 1839. It became the Crichton Royal Institution in 1840. The Southern Counties Asylum, which was intended to provide facilities for paupers, was erected on the site in 1849 and subsequently amalgamated with the main facility. Elizabeth Crichton persuaded the phrenologist William A. F. Browne (1805–1885) to become medical superintendent and to implement his innovative ideas of

occupational therapy Occupational therapy (OT), also known as ergotherapy, is a healthcare profession. Ergotherapy is derived from the Greek wiktionary:ergon, ergon which is allied to work, to act and to be active. Occupational therapy is based on the assumption t ...

and

art therapy Art therapy is a distinct discipline that incorporates creative methods of expression through visual art media. Art therapy, as a creative arts therapy profession, originated in the fields of art and psychotherapy and may vary in definition. Art ...

. Browne remained at the Crichton for almost twenty years (1838-1857) and made a decisive contribution to asylum psychiatry, setting benchmark standards in therapeutic administration. He also hoarded a vast collection of patient art. The Crichton became widely known in the twentieth century for psychiatric research under the leadership of German Jewish émigrés, including Dr Willi Mayer-Gross. Psychotherapist Ursula Fleming was educated at the hospital and Kate Fraser, an early Scottish psychiatrist, was a junior resident at the hospital. Among the people to have been treated there are artist

Charles Altamont Doyle Charles Altamont Doyle (25 March 1832 – 10 October 1893) was an illustrator, watercolourist and civil servant. A member of an artistic family, he is remembered today primarily for being the father of author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of ...

(father of

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

William James Blacklock William James Blacklock (3 March 1816 – 12 March 1858) was an English landscape painter, painting scenery in Cumbria, the Lake District and the Scottish Borders. Biography Blacklock was born in Shoreditch, London, the second of five children. ...

, Lydia Miller (widow of

Hugh Miller Hugh Miller (10 October 1802 – 23/24 December 1856) was a Scottish geologist, writer and folklorist. Life and work Miller was born in Cromarty, the first of three children of Harriet Wright (''bap''. 1780, ''d''. 1863) and Hugh Miller ...

), and feminist writer

Dora Marsden Dora Marsden (5 March 1882 – 13 December 1960) was an English suffragette, editor of literary journals, and philosopher of language. Beginning her career as an activist in the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), Marsden eventual ...

. An unidentified female patient of Dr James Gilchrist was featured as an illustration (''Figure 19'') in Charles Darwin's ''

The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals ''The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals'' is Charles Darwin's third major work of evolutionary theory, following ''On the Origin of Species'' (1859) and '' The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex'' (1871). Initially in ...

'' (1872). The hospital was expanded in the late 19th century, when

Sydney Mitchell Arthur George Sydney Mitchell (7 January 1856 – 13 October 1930) was a Scotland, Scottish architect. He designed a large number of bank branches, country houses, churches, and church halls. His most significant commissions include the housin ...

& Wilson added various buildings, including the Crichton Memorial Church. It is now a category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. Further villas were constructed between 1910 and 1914 by Mitchell's assistant Ernest Auldo Jamieson, and yet further between 1923 and 1936. The hospital became the Crichton Royal Hospital in 1945 and it joined the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

in 1948. In 1995 the Crichton Development Company was established to regenerate the redundant hospital. Several buildings were converted for business park use, while the central area was maintained as a public park. A golf course was developed to the west of the site, and a hotel and conference centre were opened.

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

visited the site and unveiled a statue of Elizabeth Crichton in May 2000. The Crichton Development Company acquired a 125-year lease on the site in 2004.

moved to a new purpose-built £40 million building within the grounds in 2008. The last of the mental health wards finally closed in 2013, concluding the site's use as a hospital.

Courses

The courses on offer at the Crichton University Campus include business, computing, teacher training and nursing courses. The Crichton Carbon Centre, housed in the Rutherford/McCowan building, is one of only two places where the Carbon Management postgraduate degree is available in Scotland. The University of Glasgow offers an MA in Health and Social Policy, an MA Primary Education Programme with Teaching Qualification and a BSc in Environmental Science and Sustainability on the campus.

References

External links

*
Dr. James Crichton 1765-1823 Physician and Philanthropist
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crichton, The Hospital buildings completed in 1839 Education in Dumfries and Galloway Hospitals in Dumfries and Galloway History of mental health in the United Kingdom Former psychiatric hospitals in Scotland Category A listed buildings in Dumfries and Galloway University of Glasgow University of the West of Scotland Business parks of Scotland 1839 establishments in Scotland Buildings and structures in Dumfries Defunct hospitals in Scotland

History

Courses

See also

References

Further reading

External links