Asylum: Inside the Pauper Lunatic Asylums

Mark Davis

Jul 2014 · Amberley Publishing Limited

Ebook

160

Pages

Eligible

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About this ebook

A stranger has come To share my room in the house not right in the head, A girl mad as birds – Dylan Thomas, ‘Love in the Asylum’ With the advent of ‘care in the community’ for the mentally afflicted, the self-contained villages for the apparently insane have now been consigned to the history books. These once bustling Victorian institutions were commonly known in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as the ‘county asylum’ or the ‘pauper lunatic asylum’, and were an accepted and essential part of society for nearly two centuries. It is difficult to believe that, in 1914, there were 102 such asylums, accommodating over 100,000 patients, the majority of whom lived their entire lives under care and treatment. In 2014, with the exception of those that have already been demolished, these buildings now lie empty and derelict, or have been converted for contemporary living. Through this photographic book, we journey into the inner sanctum of a world of lost dreams, where hope was more often than not unwillingly traded for an uncomfortable acceptance.

About the author

Mark Davis is a fearless, versatile, and passionate photographer, committed to delivering the perfect photographic image. As a keen social historian focusing on 19th century social injustice in particular, Mark has photographed Bradford from the core out for several years, recording the ongoing evolution of the city. Mark has worked for the National Media Museum, ‘Northern Life’ magazine, The BBC, Bedlam and The Imperial War Museum. His work has also been exhibited in Menston under the banner 'Reflecting On High Royds – A Haunting Portrait of the Former Psychiatric Hospital'. He is also closely involved with High Royds Memorial Garden as a campaigner dedicated to giving a voice to those that were sadly without voices in life. Mark makes his home near Haworth, the rugged landscape of which continues his photography and published books.

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