North Wales Asylum, Denbigh

Following the enactment of the Lunatic Act in 1808, each county was mandated to establish a facility for the mentally ill. However, by 1840, North Wales had yet to establish such an institution due to financial constraints in the impoverished rural areas. Consequently, severely ill pauper lunatics from North Wales were being transferred to English Asylums for care. Dr. Samuel Hitch, the superintendent of Gloucester Lunatic Asylum, observed the challenging circumstances faced by Welsh paupers in his facility, prompting him to pen a letter to the Times.

“So few of the lower class of the Welsh, except in some towns or the precincts of inns, speak English, and this only for the purpose of commerce, or to qualify themselves for duties of menial servants, and not to an extent which would enable them to comprehend anything higher, – whilst both the officers and servants of our English Asylums, and the English public too, and equally ignorant of the Welsh Language, – that when the poor Welshman is sent to an English Asylum he is submitted to the most refined modern cruelties, being doomed to an imprisonment amongst strange people, and an association with his fellow men, whom he is prohibited from holding communications, harassed by wants which he cannot make known and appealed to by sounds which he cannot comprehend, he become irritable and irritated; and it is proverbial in our English Asylum that the Welshmen is the most turbulent patient wherever he happens to become an inmate”

The Metropolitan Commissioners in Lunacy were compelled to investigate the living conditions of Welsh-speaking patients in asylums, and their 1844 report exposed the deplorable state of the asylum system. Anticipating this, a group of philanthropists in Denbigh convened a meeting in October 1842 to highlight the urgent need for a mental health facility in Central or North Wales. During this meeting, an anonymous benefactor generously donated 20 acres of land to the committee, later revealed to be Joseph Ablett of Llanber Hall. However, the project encountered obstacles, including legal restrictions on multiple counties collaborating to build an asylum, and reluctance from other Northern Welsh counties to contribute financially. Despite these challenges, the committee successfully raised £4,600 through public donations, including contributions from Queen Victoria and other members of the royal family.

Despite facing these challenges, the construction of the Hospital commenced in 1844. The plans were created by Mr. Fulljames from Gloucester, with the guidance of his friend Dr. S. Hitch. The Hospital was built using limestone bricks from the Graig Quarry near Denbigh and was considered the most superior structure of its kind. The construction was finished four years later, and the Hospital opened on November 14, 1848, with a capacity to accommodate up to 200 patients. The clock tower was a donation from Mrs. Ablett in memory of her husband, who had donated the land for the Asylum.

Over time, the Hospital faced increasing pressure to care for its patients and alleviate overcrowding, resulting in several extensions being added over the years. The most significant extension work took place in 1899, allowing the Hospital to accommodate a peak of 1500 patients and provide a wide array of treatments. In 1995, the Hospital ceased operations and has since remained vacant, leading to a deterioration of the buildings to a dilapidated state, despite their Grade II listing. In 2004, Prince Charles visited the site and placed all the buildings under the protection of the Phoenix Trust to ensure their safety.

How to get there -

Head through the centre of Denbigh Town and look for signs to the Castle. Park up at the Castle for free or on the road below.

After parking, follow the road down towards the outskirts of town and you will come to the main gates of Denbigh Asylum - to avoid attention (the house opposite the gates have dogs), walk a little further up the road, past the next house with the aviary in the front driveway, and take the first right onto a dirt path in a little wooded area a little further on from the house; walk down this path up this and don't be tempted to climb at the first reasonable looking gap in the hedge above the wall, there are better gaps in the hedges and lower wall a little further down.

Climb up a dry stone wall and you are now within the grounds of this rather magnificent place.