St George's Asylum Stafford
by Crashmatt
Stafford County Lunatic Asylum
1818 - 1995
Founded in 1818 on Corporation Street, Stafford, this welcoming complex of now derelict buildings was later blessed with the more comforting name of "St George's Hospital".
Kelly's Directory, 1896, states:
The County Lunatic Asylum, Stafford, is a very extensive building of brick, with projecting wings, and is appropriated solely for the reception of pauper lunatics. A large detached wing was added to the south-eastern side in 1879 to hold about 90 patients, and in 1884 the building was further enlarged on the north-western side at a cost of about £40,000. The new additions including workshops and bakeries. The Asylum will now hold about 870 persons.
The following report was made following a visit to the Asylum in it's heyday:
"The Committee recently purchased for the sum £5,000 22 acres of meadow land adjoining the Asylum at Stafford, which had been in the occupation of the Asylum on an annual tenancy for many years, and was essential for the proper management of the lunatics therein. The buildings at Stafford, with some few exceptions, are in a substantial state of repair, but from the destructive habits of many of the inmates considerable outlay is necessary in the interior fittings from time to time, and repairs and renovation are continually required".
