Wrekenton, Lunatic Asylum

HER Number:
7868

District:
Gateshead

Site Name:
Wrekenton, Lunatic Asylum

Place:
Wrekenton

Map Sheet:
NZ25NE

Class:
Health and Welfare

Site Type: Broad:
Hospital

Site Type: Specific:
Psychiatric Hospital

General Period:
Early Modern

Specific Period:
C19

Form of Evidence:
Documentary Evidence

Description:
Established by Jacob Gowland in 1825. Known locally as "The Cottage Asylum". The grounds were enclosed by a high wall with a large iron gate. Inmates were housed in cottages. The men and women were taken out daily for exercise or to work in the fields. They frequently begged for cakes and tobacco.

Easting:
2737

Northing:
5873

Grid Reference:
NZ27375873

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
D. Lumley, 1932, The Story of Gateshead Town - From the earliest age to the mid Victorian, p 126