The club assembled in the rural village development of Knowle for a walk around the Hampshire County Lunatic Asylum originally built in 1852. Our guide was Dr Susan Burt, fifth from left (in a white top), whose thesis was a review of some of the patients there in the 19th century. She explained the history of the development, how the asylum location was selected for its tranquil wooded outlook and there were two separate wings, one for women and one for men, each housing 200 patients. More buildings were added as the need arose.
The main building, although unpretentious, must have seemed like a palace to the local labourers and farm workers committed there under the Poor Law. They were issued clothes, and fed regularly, which may have been more than they got at home. When released, judged cured, they often had gained weight. Many died there, with over 5,000 buried in the cemetery, but often because they were old or in terminal decline when they arrived. The cemetery is now a secluded woodland area, with a handful of grave markers recovered from the undergrowth.
The evening was rounded off with supper in a local pub, with a few more stories from Susan about two particular sisters who had been admitted 13 times between them over their adult lifetime.
The club members and guests walking, and those that joined us at the pub, agreed that it was a fascinating visit and a splendid speaker – the quality of her research shone through all she told us.