asylum. It is more than likely most private run Asylums were similar, as it
was all about profit, rather than care,
Things were to change though, a Quaker gentleman named Samuel Tuke,
who lived in York, had a very different idea on how to treat pauper lunatics,
rather than treat the inmates as mad animals he thought if you treat a fellow
human being as a human you will get better results no mater how mentally
ill they were. Samuel’s idea was to rehabilitate so people could go back
to work and lead a normal life again within the community. Samuel ran an
establishment called the York retreat, this was to become the template for
a new generation of county built asylums including the new Three Counties
Asylum. Rather than chains and poor food his patients were given a warm
place to live, a comfy bed to sleep in, a very good balanced diet, and
kindness, even afternoon tea was given. Entertainment was high on the
agenda along with recreational employment, all this gave Samuel’s patients
self esteem and set them on the road to recovery. This was known as “Moral
Therapy”
Because of many complaints of cruelty and ill treatment at places like
Bethlem and the York asylum, a government body was set up to investigate,
what they uncovered was totally beyond belief. The body was known as
The Commission of Lunacy. New rules and regulations were soon passed in
government and times were to change
It was decided that all counties had to have their own asylums or they
could join counties and build a large asylum together. They all had to follow
the moral therapy pattern as set out by Samuel Tuke.
The origins of Three Counties Hospital
Bedford had its own asylum which stood in Ampthill Road. It was built
in 1812 for 50 inmates but was actually housing over 300. It stood very
overcrowded, not only for the living but also the dead. The cemetery was
so full that the fresh dead were buried just inches below the surface, so it
was decided to look at the Bedford asylum to see if it could be extended and
rebuilt but it was soon clear that the old building was outdated, damp and
no longer fit for its original purpose – to try and rebuild it would clearly be
money wasted.
A new asylum needed to be built. Not in the old style of a custodial
warehouse for the insane but as a new modern place for moral therapy and
cure. It also had to be totally self sufficient. The counties of Hertfordshire,
Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Cambridgeshire came together and
decided to build one large asylum to deal with the ever growing pauper
lunatic population, with committees being what they are Cambridgeshire
became impatient and felt things were moving too slow. Arguments over
where to build, who would build it, how much each county would pay per
inmate and who would run it were dragging on, so Cambridgeshire withdrew
from the other three counties and built there own asylum They employed the
York architect George Fowler Jones to design their new asylum.
With Cambridge out of the fold, it was left to Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire
and Huntingdonshire to build their new asylum, and a site had to be found.
Two sites were chosen, Cadwell farm in Ickleford and land at the Arlesey
Rectory farm. Cadwell was no good as the geography of the site was too
hilly, this would not allow a view of any patients working on the land, they
could easily escape over a hill or through a dip in the ground. There was
also no flat spot on the land to build a large asylum. It was also agreed that
the second site at Arlesey Rectory Farm could not be used as the land was
unsuited for growing crops. It was suggested to the committee to look at a
200 acre site owned by Major Wilkinson of Stotfold. On inspection it was
found that the soil was light, good for growing crops and farming, with plenty
of space on which to build a large asylum. Another advantage of this site
was although most of the land was flat the area to build the asylum was
slightly raised. This meant you could build your asylum on the hill and then
be able to view your landscape all around it – you would be able to see if
anybody ran off as you would have a clear view all around. A bit like looking
out of the top of a castle. A deal was done and the land was purchased
for £11,000. A further 57 acres were purchased so that the asylum could
connect a road and tramway to Arlesey village. This was to make a
connection with the GNR line. The land was purchased from Jonah King, a
local Arlesey land owner, for £2,892.00.
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February 2015
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