Storthes Hall Hospital was a mental health facility at

Storthes Hall Storthes Hall is part of the civil parish of Kirkburton in West Yorkshire, England. A heavily wooded area, it comprises a single road, Storthes Hall Lane, which links Kirkburton to Farnley Tyas and Thurstonland. The most significant propertie ...

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England. Founded in 1904, it expanded to accommodate over 3,000 patients during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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 1992.

History

An area to the west of Storthes Hall Mansion, closer to

Farnley Tyas Farnley Tyas is a village in the parish of Kirkburton, in the Kirklees district, in the county of West Yorkshire, England south east of Huddersfield. It is located on a hilltop between Almondbury, Castle Hill, Thurstonland and Honley. It is ...

, was chosen as a site for 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 ...

in the early 20th century. The facility, which was designed by J. Vickers-Edwards using a compact arrow layout, opened as the Fourth West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum in 1904. The facility became known as the Storthes Hall Mental Hospital in 1929 and as the West Riding Mental Hospital in 1939. During the

the patient population swelled to over 3,000 people as the hospital struggled to cope with patients being transferred from hospitals elsewhere as the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

requisitioned hospitals to treat injured soldiers. The facility 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 Storthes Hall Hospital in 1948. Storthes Hall Hospital was one of several hospitals investigated in 1967 as a result of the publication of

Barbara Robb Barbara Robb (née Anne, 15 April 1912 – 21 June 1976) was a British campaigner for the well-being of older people, best known for founding and leading the pressure group AEGIS (Aid for the Elderly in Government Institutions) and for the book ...

's book "Sans Everything". Accusations covered a thirty-two-week period of serious violent assaults with fists or weapons against male patients of all ages, committed by four named male nurses. It was also alleged that it was like Belsen because it was a “brutal, bestial, beastly place”—it was a “hell-hole”. However, the same report found none of the allegations against any named or unnamed member of the hospital staff to have been proved. After the introduction of

in the early 1980s, the hospital went into a period of decline and closed in 1992. In 2003, Anne Littlewood, a former nurse at the hospital published a book, ''Storthes Hall Remembered'', about her experiences at the hospital. Much of the area previously occupied by the hospital was developed as a student

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 ...

, the Storthes Hall Park Student Village, for the

University of Huddersfield The University of Huddersfield is a public research university located in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It has been a University since 1992, but has its origins in a series of institutions dating back to the 19th century. It has made te ...

in the mid-1990s. A former hospital building, previously known as "The Arboretum" and now known as "The Venue", was extended for use by the students as a social club in 2010.

Gallery

File:StorthesHall2.JPG, Most of the outbuildings have been demolished but the administrative block of Storthes Hall Hospital survives File:StorthesHall3.JPG, The road leading to the administrative block of Storthes Hall Hospital File:St Thomas Thurstonland 022.jpg, Graveyard memorial at Church of St Thomas, Thurstonland, where around 2,000 patients are buried

History

Gallery

References

Further reading