View of main block from SSE Digital image of D 25681

Description View of main block from SSE Digital image of D 25681

Date 28/1/1997

Catalogue Number SC 776743

Category On-line Digital Images

Scope and Content Male Hospital, Dingleton Hospital, Dingleton Road, Melrose, Scottish Borders, from the south-south-east (latterly known as the Tweed, Ettrick and Teviot wards which closed 2001) This long range, designed by Sydney Mitchell & Wilson to house male patients, was built as an extension to the male wing of the asylum (left). It was constructed in similar sandstone and in a similar architectural style as the main building with piended (hipped) roofs and timber-bracketed eaves. Due to the steeply sloping site, only the upper floor of the two-storeyed building can be seen from this angle. A porch built over the basement area gave access to the building from the east. The 15-paned windows are original, but other windows have been replaced with modern versions, and the original chimneys and roof ventilators have also been removed. The new hospital provided accommodation for patients with a range of mental disorders in light, airy and attractive dormitories and single rooms. Electric light was installed, and the interior was painted in bright colours which were designed to produce a therapeutic effect in patients. Many of the locks were removed from internal doors allowing the asylum to become 'more of a hospital and a haven and less of a jail'. Personal parole, that is leave within or outside the grounds, was increased, allowing patients to go home to stay with their families for a short time. Dingleton Hospital, designed by the architects, Wardrop & Brown, opened in 1872 as the District Asylum for Melrose. It provided accommodation for 200 patients from the counties of Roxburgh, Berwick and Selkirk and replaced the private asylum at Milholme House in Musselburgh which had been licensed for pauper lunatics on a temporary basis until the new asylum at Melrose was completed. The site was substantially developed between 1895 and 1905 when a new hospital block for female patients, new recreational and dining facilities, and a new male hospital block were added to designs by the architectural firm, Sydney Mitchell & Wilson. In 1936 a nurses' home, designed by Tarbolton & Ochterlony, was constructed in the grounds. The hospital closed in 2001. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/776743

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap