Moorhaven Hospital, built as Plymouth Asylum and initially named the Plymouth Borough Asylum, was a mental health facility in

Ivybridge Ivybridge is a town and civil parish in the South Hams, in Devon, England. It lies about east of Plymouth. It is at the southern extremity of Dartmoor, a National Park of England and Wales and lies along the A38 "Devon Expressway" road. The ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England.

History

Work on Plymouth Asylum was commenced in 1888, to a design by James Hine and Odgers of Plymouth using a stepped corridor layout. The asylum was designed to cater for 200 patients, although in anticipation of future extension the administrative portion of the building was adapted for a larger number. It was erected on a commanding site in the parish of Ugborough, on the borders of Dartmoor. Stone for the building was quarried on the estate, and the masonry dressings are of limestone, brick,

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

and

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

stone. The chapel is in the Early Englishstyle. The contracted price for the asylum was £34,514; Pethick Brothers, of Plymouth acted as contractors. The Mayor, Alderman Waring, Chairman of the Plymouth Justices, laid the foundation stone in 1888. The hospital was opened as the Plymouth Borough Asylum in October 1891. Plymouth Asylum - floor plan

Situated at above sea level, its patients enjoyed excellent views down to the sea below. An additional storey was added to the building in 1908. It became Plymouth Mental Hospital in 1918 and 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 ...

as Moorhaven Hospital in 1948. After the introduction of

Care in the Community Care in the Community (also called "Community Care" or "Domiciliary Care") is a British policy of deinstitutionalisation, treating and caring for physically and mentally disabled people in their homes rather than in an institution. Institutional c ...

in the early 1980s, the hospital went into a period of decline and closed in February 1993. The buildings were subsequently converted into residential accommodation as Moorhaven Village.

References

{{authority control Hospitals in Devon Defunct hospitals in England Hospital buildings completed in 1891 Hospitals established in 1891 1891 establishments in England 1993 disestablishments in England Hospitals disestablished in 1993 Former psychiatric hospitals in England