DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1213#0080
60 TALLIES ILLUSTRATED LONDON;
to re-erect the hospital on a more eligible site. Aecorcu
ingly the Moorfields asylum was taken down in 1814, and
the first stone of the new hospital in St. George's-fields
laid in 1812. It was opened for the reception of patients
in 1815. The new building, including the House of
Occupation, covers 14 acres of ground, it being one of the
conditions of the lease that the hospital should be capable
of accommodating 200 patients, and that not fewer than
eight acres of land, should be appropriated to their use. It
was built after the design of James Lewis, and consists of
a centre and two wings. The centre is surmounted by a
cupola, by Sydney Smyrke, and the entrance by an Ionic
portico of six columns, sustaining the royal arms. The
total cost of the building was £122,572, of which £72,819
were grants of public money, £23,766 were from the
funds of the hospital, £14,873 accumulated as interest
during the progress of the work, besides various amounts
from several public companies and individuals. The
wings, for which the government advanced £25,144, are
appropriated to criminal lunatics. In 1837 the male cri-
minal wing was enlarged, and since that time very con-
siderable additions have been made to the hospital. The
extreme length of the building is 569 feet. It contains
galleries 219 feet long for male and female patients in the
basement, on the ground-floor, and on the first and second
floors. On the third floor of the central building there is
a fifth gallery, in which incurable patients are confined.
The lunatics are divided into three classes; the furious
and mischievous being placed in the basement; ordinary
patients, and those who are promoted from the basement,
are on the first floor; and the second floor is set apart for
those "who are progressing towards recovery. In 1849
there were 450 beds in the hospital, and in the same year
it contained 330 patients, the annual number averaging
400. The comforts of the unhappy class of persons con-
fined here are attended to in the most commendable man-
ner. The women, Mr. Cunningham says, are supplied
with pianofortes, and the men with billiard and bagatelle
to re-erect the hospital on a more eligible site. Aecorcu
ingly the Moorfields asylum was taken down in 1814, and
the first stone of the new hospital in St. George's-fields
laid in 1812. It was opened for the reception of patients
in 1815. The new building, including the House of
Occupation, covers 14 acres of ground, it being one of the
conditions of the lease that the hospital should be capable
of accommodating 200 patients, and that not fewer than
eight acres of land, should be appropriated to their use. It
was built after the design of James Lewis, and consists of
a centre and two wings. The centre is surmounted by a
cupola, by Sydney Smyrke, and the entrance by an Ionic
portico of six columns, sustaining the royal arms. The
total cost of the building was £122,572, of which £72,819
were grants of public money, £23,766 were from the
funds of the hospital, £14,873 accumulated as interest
during the progress of the work, besides various amounts
from several public companies and individuals. The
wings, for which the government advanced £25,144, are
appropriated to criminal lunatics. In 1837 the male cri-
minal wing was enlarged, and since that time very con-
siderable additions have been made to the hospital. The
extreme length of the building is 569 feet. It contains
galleries 219 feet long for male and female patients in the
basement, on the ground-floor, and on the first and second
floors. On the third floor of the central building there is
a fifth gallery, in which incurable patients are confined.
The lunatics are divided into three classes; the furious
and mischievous being placed in the basement; ordinary
patients, and those who are promoted from the basement,
are on the first floor; and the second floor is set apart for
those "who are progressing towards recovery. In 1849
there were 450 beds in the hospital, and in the same year
it contained 330 patients, the annual number averaging
400. The comforts of the unhappy class of persons con-
fined here are attended to in the most commendable man-
ner. The women, Mr. Cunningham says, are supplied
with pianofortes, and the men with billiard and bagatelle