View of ground-floor ward in hospital block Digital image of E 3914

Description View of ground-floor ward in hospital block Digital image of E 3914

Date 8/11/2001

Catalogue Number SC 776797

Category On-line Digital Images

Scope and Content Ward in Hospital Block, Sunnyside Royal Hospital, Hillside, Montrose, Angus This long, south-facing ward occupies the ground floor of one of the pavilions of the hospital block. The room is simply decorated, with unornamented walls and ceiling. The focus of attention falls on the large, nine-light bay window at the southern end which floods the room with natural light. Originally the ward was lined with beds positioned closely together on either side of the room. Latterly, a system of light aluminium frames, suspended from the ceiling, was introduced around each bed to allow curtains to be hung in order to give each patient a degree of privacy. The hospital unit, which opened in 1891, provided care for patients who were physically ill as well as those who required treatment because of their mental illness. Separate hospital accommodation in distinct self-contained units was a new development at the time, and hospital units began to be added to most of the existing asylums from the 1890s onwards. The hospital unit was constructed along the same principles as the main asylum building, with segregation of patients in wards according to sex, class and complaint. Sunnyside Royal Hospital, designed by the architect, William Lambie Moffatt (1808-82), was built in 1855-7 on a hillside site 6km north of Montrose to replace the old Royal Asylum in the town. The new site was further developed in 1888-91 when a hospital block, designed by the architects, Sydney Mitchell & Wilson, was built to the north-west of the main building, and a large villa, Carnegie Lodge, designed by the Aberdeen architect, William Kelly (c.1861-1944), was added to house private patients. Another two villas, Howden Villa and North Esk Villa, were built in the early 1900s to provide accommodation for pauper patients, and a nurses' home was constructed in 1935. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/776797

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap