View from south Digital image of C 17645 CN

Description View from south Digital image of C 17645 CN

Date 3/11/1993

Catalogue Number SC 785409

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of C 17645 CN

Scope and Content Electricity Generating Station, Crichton Royal Hospital, Glencaple Road, Dumfries, Dumfries & Galloway This large, red sandstone, crowstepped building, remarkable for its early date, was built 1894-5 as an electricity generating station to supply the hospital with electric light and power. At one end is a huge chimney, its smooth stone blocks providing a distinctive contrast to the masonry of the rest of the building. The station originally generated electricity using coal to heat water to produce steam, and then using the steam to drive turbines to produce electricity. The electricity was used to light and power the hospital buildings and the staff cottages (who received free electricity) as well as the farm buildings and workshops. The station continued to generate its own electricity until 1939 when the hospital linked up with the county electricity supply and switched over from DC (Direct Current) to AC (Alternating Current). It was latterly used to house workshops for patients working as cabinet makers and upholsterers. Crichton Royal Hospital, a large complex set around a church within immaculately maintained gardens, was for many years Scotland's premier mental hospital, housing patients from all over the country whose families could afford the substantial fees for private accommodation. It opened in 1839 as the Crichton Royal Asylum for Lunatics with a single large building, Crichton Hall, designed by the architect, William Burn (1789-1870), that was intended to stand alone. Major expansion in the late 19th and early 20th centuries included the building of Crichton Memorial Church in celebration of the institution's 50th anniversary, and a number of large villas within the grounds, each designed for a specific category of pauper patient. In 1938 Easterbrook Hall was built to provide recreational facilities, including a swimming pool and gymnasium. The late 20th century brought about a move towards provision of psychiatric care in the community and a lessening of the hospital's residential function, resulting in closure of some of the buildings. Much of the original site is now a campus for the Universities of Glasgow and Paisley. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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