View of main S entrance, from S

Description View of main S entrance, from S

Date 17/11/1993

Catalogue Number SC 776403

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of C 17819

Scope and Content Main Entrance in South Front of Nurses' Home, Hartwood Hospital, Shotts, North Lanarkshire (now closed and mainly demolished) This large four-storeyed south front, built in the same architectural style as the main hospital, has Scots Baronial-style detail, and a corbelled-out stone balcony which runs at first-floor level. The three-bayed centrepiece, with canted windows at first- and second-floor levels, rises to crowstepped gables at the attic storey. The main entrance opens onto a balustraded terrace, with stone steps flanked by imposing stone piers leading down to the gardens. The hospital opened with a staff of 70, consisting of three doctors (including the Medical Superintendent), six administrators, 25 male attendants (nurses), 17 female nurses, 12 servants and seven tradesmen. The nursing staff was initially housed in cottages within the grounds, and was responsible for the supervision of 420 lunatics, a ratio of one nurse to every 10 patients. Male nurses worked exclusively on the male wards, and female nurses on the female wards. They worked 12-hour shifts, and were often expected to do unpaid overtime as well. The nurses' home was built to house female nursing staff, and the male attendants were housed in The Clachan, a male residence built in the late 1930s or early 1940s. Most of the nurses were recruited from outside the catchment area of the asylum to reduce the chances of patients and staff being related or even friends. This led to the employment of many male nurses from the Highlands and Islands, and Gaelic became the language of choice in the male staff residence. If staff were recruited from within the catchment area, they were required to be accomplished in some other skill such as football, cricket or music, and were expected to use their talents for the benefit of the patients. Hartwood Hospital, a large Baronial-style building with imposing twin towers, was designed by the architect, John L Murray of Biggar (d.1909), and occupied one of the largest hospital sites in Scotland. It was built as the District Asylum for Lanark and opened in 1895 with accommodation for 500 lunatic patients. Between 1898 and 1916 additions included two large ward blocks, each linked to the rear of the main building by a covered corridor, a sanatorium for the isolation of patients suffering from tuberculosis, and a new admission hospital. In 1931 a new nurses' home, designed by the architect, James Lochhead (1870-1942), opened to the south of the complex, and in c.1935, a new site was developed at nearby Hartwood Hill in response to the growing need for accommodation for mentally handicapped adults. The hospital is now closed and mainly demolished. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/776403

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap