Ep. 32: The History of Denbigh Asylum, Part 3

In this episode, we discuss the history of the North Wales Hospital from approximately 1945 until its closure in 1995. Then, learn what happened to the property and the buildings after the hospital closed and what the plans are for it today.

Most information is drawn from Clwyd Wynne's book _The North Wales Hospital: Denbigh (1842-1995)_. All other sources are listed in the episode transcript.

Check out the Facebook page (Behind the Walls Podcast) and Instagram page (@behindthewallspod) for photos and more information. Send me an email at behindthewallspodcast@gmail.com

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Transcript

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to Behind the Walls of the World’s Psychiatric Hospitals! I’m your host, Dr. Sarah Gallup, and today we will be wrapping up the history of the Denbigh Asylum in Wales. Starting next week, we’ll go over stories from patients at the hospital and see what life was like for them.

Like the last two weeks, my primary source for this episode will be Clwyd Wynne’s first book The North Wales Hospital: Denbigh (1842-1995). All other sources will be listed in the episode transcript.

For now, come on in and get comfortable as we go behind the walls of Denbigh Asylum…

We left off last week with some of the more common treatments at Denbigh during the mid-1940s. You may have noticed that I skipped over the minor detail of WWII in the last episode, and that’s because I needed more time to delve into this period. I’ll provide a little bit of historical scaffolding regarding how Wales was involved in WWII, but I want to focus primarily on how the hospital functioned during wartime.

This probably won’t come as a surprise to my international listeners, but when I learned about the World Wars, I learned about them through a very US-centric lens. And as a result, there are many gaps in my knowledge because there is just so much to learn about this turbulent time in history. So I had to look up information specific to Wales.

Of course, there were Welsh men and women involved on every front throughout the war, throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The city of Cardiff in Wales was a target for bombings throughout the war. Between 1940 and 1944, about 2100 bombs were dropped on Cardiff, killing around 355 people. I also didn’t realize that the town of Bridgend in Wales was the site of a prisoner of war camp for Axis prisoners (mostly German soldiers), and that at the end of the war, it was renamed Special Camp XI. It became a holding site for senior SS leaders who were awaiting extradition to the Nuremberg Trials (“Wales in the World Wars”). So suffice it to say that the country was majorly affected by the war, as most places were at that time, and that trickled down to the operations at the hospital.

Historian and archivist Lindsey Sutton, who was part of the “Unlocking the Asylum” Project at Denbighshire Archives, discusses in a blog post about how the North Wales Hospital was impacted by WWII. She pointed out that by the time the war broke out in September 1939, the hospital was yet again overcrowded. Even though plans for additional housing had been approved, these plans were put on hold, anticipating financial shortages during war time. But patient overcrowding wasn’t the only issue at the hospital. As Sutton points out: 

Two further factors added to the levels of war time overcrowding. At the outbreak of the war the hospital was designated as an emergency war hospital and a ward was cleared of its existing patients to make room for 120 war casualty patients if required. As the need for these beds did not materialise the hospital was allowed to reoccupy the ward on the condition that it could be evacuated within 24 hours if it was required. Additionally in August 1940 the Mid-Wales Counties Mental Hospital in Talgarth was designated as an army mental hospital. Its existing patients were subsequently transferred to other hospitals for the remainder of the war, the North Wales Hospital accommodated 86 of these patients. (Sutton) 

So the hospital was not only filled with its own patients but absorbed patients from surrounding hospitals and prepared to take on extra war casualty patients, if needed. And remember: they were already overcrowded.

Unsurprisingly, many staff members had been called to serve in the war efforts, leaving the hospital short-staffed. Obviously, during any war, there is an urgent need for doctors and nurses, in addition to anyone else who is able to fight. Of the staff who remained, they had to quickly be trained in matters that were not part of their typical job duties. Lindsey Sutton says that by 1940, “all staff and patients had been issued gas masks, and 80 staff had been trained in anti-gas procedures, with a further 12 [being] trained to deal with decontamination and incendiary bombs and high explosives.” It would certainly be intimidating to go from your everyday hospital operations to – hey, we need to learn how to put on gas masks and deal with bombs, just in case. I know I would be there thinking, “I’m a psychologist, not a bomb expert. But I’ll do what I can!” Sutton adds that “Staff were also responsible for reorganizing patient wards, patient who suffered from limited mobility, including sick and elderly patients were housed in wards on the ground floor, allowing a quicker evacuation in the event of air raids.” It’s really hard to think of having to prepare for an emergency like an air raid, but of course, every hospital should have emergency preparedness strategies for any possibility. Obviously, it all gets heightened during wartime.

Perhaps to be expected, given gas and oil shortages during the war, that some aspects of hospital life would be different. Many of the usual recreation opportunities were halted during this time, and entertainers who came to visit the hospital could not come from long distances. Sutton says that patients were still able to play outdoor games and hold their usual dances, concerts, and cinema shows (Sutton).

Following WWII, another major change occurred in mental health law. According to the UK Parliament website, the National Health Service Act went into effect on July 5, 1948: 

The Act stated that it shall be the duty of the Minister of Health to promote the establishment of a health service to secure improvement in the physical and mental health of the people and the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illness. The Act stated that the services shall be free of charge. The Act brought together a wide range of medical services under one organisation, including hospitals, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, opticians and dentists. Local voluntary hospitals were brought into national public ownership and were organised by regional hospital boards, family doctors became self-employed and local authorities held responsibility for community services such as immunisations, maternity clinics and community nurses. (“1946 National Health Service Act”). 

So, in a practical sense, what this meant was that the hospital got a new management structure. The former Committee of Visitors was now responsible for managing what were called Mental Deficiency Institutions in several Welsh cities that I’m not going to try to pronounce. What this meant was that patients were being admitted voluntarily and discharged fairly quickly, according to Clwyd Wynne (24). Folks with what we would now call developmental disabilities were being relocated to these Mental Deficiency Institutions or attending outpatient clinics. Even with all the shuffling around of patients, the numbers continued to rise, and the North Wales Hospital reached its peak patient population of over 1500 in 1955. A new hospital in Brynhyfryd (Brin-hev-rid) opened in 1956 and was able to take 50 patients from Denbigh (Wynne 25).

I discovered a little too late into my research that the name of the hospital has a bit more history to it than I’d originally realized. So let me back up quite a bit. The original name of the hospital when it opened in 1848 was the North Wales Lunatic Asylum. In 1858, it became the North Wales Counties Lunatic Asylum. In 1913, they realized “lunatic” wasn’t great, so it became the North Wales Counties Asylum. Following the 1930 Mental Treatment Act, it became the mouthful of a name known as the North Wales Counties Mental Hospital. And, following, the National Health Service Act of 1948, it became the North Wales Mental Hospital. Denbigh Asylum was never a formal name, just a colloquial one given by locals. Phew! Glad we finally got that straightened out (Michael).

Back to business…as we know from other episodes, the 1950s saw the introduction of psychotropic medications, which really revolutionized the field of psychiatry. Starting around 1953, Largactil (lar-gack-till), which was another name for Thorazine, and Stelazine, both heavy-duty antipsychotics and sedatives, were introduced to the hospital at Denbigh (Wynne 25). As we’ve discussed with other hospitals, the introduction of these medications had significant ramifications. Patients who had been previously psychotic or agitated were now more calm and rational. They were able to show more improvements and discharge faster. By the end of the 1950s, Clwyd Wynne says, many wards were able to remain unlocked (25), ostensibly so patients could move more freely around the hospital grounds. Only a few wards remained locked on each side of the hospital (Wynne 25). Even the outer doors of the hospital remained unlocked. Wynne says that, despite much anxiety especially among long-time staff members, this proved to be a great success (25). 

I see this at my hospital, too. Obviously, we don’t have external doors unlocked, we’re a maximum security facility, but some units have their doors unlocked because patients need to be able to come and go to work or off-unit groups or appointments or whatnot. There’s something about having a locked door that makes people want to leave, and something about an unlocked door that tells them they are trusted not to leave. It’s that idea of “if you tell me I can’t do it, I’m gonna want to do it.” Every once in a while we have a patient elope off the unit into the main hall, but it’s less frequent than you might guess and generally not malicious. They’re really good about keeping themselves in check. And, if you’re familiar with Michel Foucault’s work The Panopticon, then you might understand why they’re good about keeping themselves in check. The incentive is the carrot of getting out, and most of them will not risk their chances of discharge. I’m assuming the same was true at Denbigh.

Also during this time, changes were happening in terms of recreation and entertainment. By 1955, all the wards had televisions, wireless sets, and gramophones – probably before most people in the community! In 1958, a Sports and Recreation officer was appointed; not long after, he was joined by a woman assistant to help with the activities. That meant that sporting activities began to increase, PT classes were started, new football and cricket pitches were laid out by the river, and a new sports pavilion was erected in 1960 (Wynne 26).

Hospital staff also helped start a number of fun activities, both at the hospital and off-site. There were annual events, such as Flower Shows, Carnivals, Sports Days, and Eisteddfodau (I-stead-fo-dah) that became very popular, and prizes given to patients and staff alike. This is incredible to me, but patients were allowed to participate in a sort of exchange program, where they could exchange holidays with other hospitals. So 30 men and 60 women could spend a holiday in a boarding house in Rhyl, and 120 patients could go to Pensarn for holiday camp. Still other patients were taken to other hospitals in NW England to compete in football, cricket, and netball (Wynne 26), which is basically basketball. So patients were really able to get out and engage in various activities and sorta travel during their time at the hospital. Even as I’m thinking about this now, it feels baffling to me, but I have to remind myself that most of these patients were not charged with or convicted of crimes; they really were there for the treatment of their mental illness. But there remains this stigma of the axe-wielding escapee from the insane asylum, which never quite reflected reality.

And as we’ve discussed before, up until the advent of psychotropic medications, a primary means of treatment was working. During the 1950s, patients still held many of the jobs that kept the hospital afloat. About 40 patients worked with staff in the kitchen, helping to cater for 1500 patients and a large number of staff. The hospital laundry employed 16 regular staff but up to 48 patient workers at its busiest times. Other patients worked on the hospital farm until it was finally sold in 1958 (Wynne 25).

In 1959, Parliament passed the Mental Health Act, which effectively abolished the Lunacy Act of 1890 and the Mental Treatment Act of 1930. This became the first time that “mental disorder” was actually defined by law, and it was defined as follows: “’mental disorder’ means mental illness, arrested or incomplete development of the mind, psychopathic disorder, and any other disorder or disability of the mind” (“Mental Health Act 1959”). 

This Act made several major changes: first, the hospital changed its name again. Of course. Now it officially became the North Wales Hospital (Michael). Moving on. The next change was that the differentiation between psychiatric illness and physical illness was supposed to be lessened, so that mental disorders were treated more in line with physical ailments. To do this, the Act established Mental Health Review Tribunals that would oversee the various hospitals (“Mental Health Act 1959”). Next, admission to psychiatric hospitals would be voluntary and less formal, whatever that means. They also gave patients the right to appeal their status to the Tribunal if they felt they were unfairly detained (Wynne 25). Perhaps most significantly, the focus of the Mental Health Act of 1959 was to shift the treatment of mental illness from inpatient hospitals to the community, or essentially, to begin deinstitutionalization (“Mental Health Act 1959”). 

Most likely as a result of the Mental Health Act of 1959, the following year, the Right Honorable Enoch Powell, Minister of Health, toured the hospital in Denbigh and announced its eventual demise. The plan was that psychiatric units should be attached to District General Hospitals and community care increased (Wynne 26). In 1962, Enoch Powell published his proposal called “A Hospital Plan for England and Wales” that would outline his 10-year vision of modernizing hospitals. He hoped to build one new general hospital for every 125,000 residents and wanted to avoid single speciality hospitals, like cardiac hospitals, neurosurgery hospitals, and…psychiatric hospitals (“History of NHS – 1960-1980”).

In 1963, Dr. Roberts retired, and Dr. T. Gwynne Williams took over as the last Medical Superintendent. Also a fun fact: in 1965, a 19-year-old nursing assistant named Clwyd Wynne began working at the hospital (Davies). This is the same Clwyd who authored the book I’ve been using for this series. He would end up working at the hospital for 30 years until its closure in 1995.

By the early 1960s, many of the more “aggressive” treatments were discontinued, like leucotomies, insulin shock, and malaria treatment, in favor for psychiatric medications. ECT was still used, though it was used more selectively for severe cases of depression (Wynne 25). 

The patient population was also declining, as many patients began discharging and seeking care in the community. Wynne points out that “Ward numbers were decreasing to an extent where it was now possible to embark on a major upgrading programme, reducing large dormitories into smaller 4-6 bedded rooms and improving the environment, facilities, and privacy. This also enabled the establishment of specialist wards for the treatment of Adolescent, alcoholism, and drug addiction” (27). Remember how I mentioned in the previous episodes on this hospital that it used to be so crowded in the dorms that the only way patients could get in and out of bed was from the foot of the bed? Imagine going from that level of overcrowding to 4-6 beds per room and having the luxury of specialized units? 

In 1968, the first Community Psychiatric Nurse was appointed, joining the many psychiatric social workers and mental welfare officers who were already employed around the area. Day centers and day hospitals were set up, and the number of community psychiatric nurses continued to rise (Wynne 27). This was good news for patients, who now could be discharged from the hospital and moved to private and local authority residential homes or to their own homes, if they had someone who could care for them. This was also around the time that long-lasting injectable psychotropic medications became available, so patients and potentially their family members wouldn’t have to worry about them taking their medications every day. They could get their injection once per week or once per month (Wynne 27). We still have these injectable medications today, and many patients prefer them when they go back to the community because they don’t have to worry about taking meds every day and it may mean fewer appointments to a clinic.

The decrease in the patient population came with some positive and negative side effects. Some of the fun annual traditions, like the patient ball around Christmastime, came to an end in the early 1970s, along with other activities that patients and staff alike enjoyed. Employment opportunities for patients came to an end, as well, although this was a good thing because it kept patient work from being exploited. We talked about patient work being exploited in the series on Willard State Hospital.

Remember that the Right Honorable Enoch Powell, Minister of Health, had a 10-year vision for moving psychiatric patients back to the community? Well, it took a little longer than he had anticipated. Although psychiatric hospitals around the UK had been moving toward deinstitutionalization since the 1960s, in 1983, then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher adopted a new policy called “Care in the Community,” which outlined the benefits of home care for the mentally ill (“Care in the Community”). This policy essentially pushed to close large psychiatric facilities like the one in Denbigh. And in 1987, a 10-year strategy was put into place to close the North Wales Hospital for good (Wynne 27). 

In 1990, the National Health Service and Community Care Act was passed and continued to move services into the community. It allowed funding for older adults and people with disabilities to be evaluated for community-based care services (“National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990”). And I can appreciate the effort here: why stay in a hospital built in 1848 when you could get treatment in your own home? What I think it fails to take into consideration is that some folks with severe mental illness don’t have someone who can care for them. So those folks fall through the cracks.

When the Pool Park Hospital, which was a branch of the North Wales Hospital, closed in 1991, it moved the hospital one step closer to closure. Patients from Pool Park were moved into the county, and it seemed that the same would be true in Denbigh. Sure enough, in August 1995, the North Wales Hospital closed, after 147 years of service (“History and Future of North Wales Hospital”). 

In her book Care and Treatment of the Mentally Ill in North Wales, 1800-2000, author Pamela Michael discusses many of the logistic complications that occurred after the hospital closed. After all, the buildings had nearly 150 years of history stored within them. She says:

When the hospital was closing vast quantities of paperwork had to be cleared from the building. The logistics of this operation were awesome. In the basement the case files of every patient admitted to the hospital since 1937 were stored. The files of all patients who had died in the hospital since that date were stored in the attic and were known simply as the ‘dead files’. There was also an enormous collection of outpatient records. Owing to statutory requirements governing the retention of medical records the hospital was obliged to retain all case files relating to any patient who had received treatment within the previous twenty-five years, and to retain patient records for twelve years after death. Consequently it was necessary to identify only those records not falling into these categories before destroying any patient case files. The timescale for clearing the hospital site did not allow for selection of files eligible for destruction according to these criteria. Consequently all of the case records were temporarily retained and removed in lorry loads from the Denbigh hospital and deposited with the new health trusts and hospitals. 

Michael went on to point out that at the time of publication in 2003, most of the records had been destroyed but some had been retained in an archive. Today the remaining records are at the Denbighshire Record Office.

After the hospital closed, according to an article by The Leader, “Denbigh’s Grade II listed buildings were subject to one of the most controversial and complex sale and re-use dramas of any British asylum” (“History and Future of North Wales Hospital”). The article continues by saying that the property was sold cheaply, at 350,000 pounds – or the equivalent of about 1 million US dollars today. The property ended up in the hands of an offshore-based owner, Denbigh Freemont, who, they say somewhat cryptically, submitted plans deemed unacceptable by the local council (“History and Future of North Wales Hospital”). I’m not sure what those plans were, but I’m curious if Clwyd or others from Denbigh might remember. It would be interesting to know what plans had been rejected.

With no plans in place for what to do with the property, everything that could be salvaged was sold, and the buildings were abandoned and left to deteriorate. The article from The Leader says, “In 2004 [then-]Prince Charles visited the site and placed all the buildings under the protection of the Phoenix Trust in a bid to ensure the building's future, but in 2008, the recreation hall was completely destroyed in a suspected arson attack. The still-absent owners were served with a notice to carry out repair works with a deadline of the close of 2009 but these were ignored, and the council served an Urgent Works notice in 2011, spending about £900,000 on measures to slow the decay of the building” (“History and Future of North Wales Hospital”). 

The community fought to preserve the historic building rather than let it succumb to time and age. Throughout the years, the hospital buildings were plagued by vandalism and arson, all while measures were put into place in an attempt to save the historic site. In 2013, because the owners weren’t doing anything with the property, the Denbighshire council voted to initiate a Compulsory Purchase Order for the hospital (“Timeline”). And since this a legal term specific to the UK and Ireland, a Compulsory Purchase Order is defined by Wikipedia as “a legal function…that allows certain bodies to obtain land or property without the consent of the owner. It may be enforced if a proposed development is considered one for public betterment” (“Compulsory Purchase Order”). It sounds like eminent domain in the US, except that I think with eminent domain the owner’s consent needs to be given and generally there’s a payout for the property that follows.

But anyway, the owners appealed the compulsory purchase order in 2015 but failed. Later that year, the order was upheld by the Welsh Government (“Timeline”).

In 2016, the Denbighshire council “approved development plans by the Prince’s Regeneration Trust for business units, 34 apartments and 200 houses to be built within the grounds” (“Timeline”). Even though the plans were approved, legal battles surrounding the ongoing compulsory purchase continued. In 2017, the hospital grounds were once again hit with a series of fires in February and July, leaving a wing of the main building damaged. It later had to be demolished (“Timeline”).

In early April 2018, a new company called Signature Livings revealed plans to build residential homes and two luxury hotels on the hospital site (“Timeline”). Just days later, on April 4, 2018, a major fire broke out in the area of the old hospital where the developments were going to take place. It took about 30 firefighters over 14 hours to control the blaze (Morris). The fire was determined to be arson. Obviously, the development plans were put on hold.

The good news was that the Denbighshire County Council was finally able to acquire the property after years of legal battles. I imagine there had to be at least one person thinking, “Hooray…we just bought a…burned down building.” But they didn’t give up. I’m curious to know what conversations happened between this fire in 2018 and the next steps that I was able to find in this saga. I’m sure everything was put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2021, the Denbighshire Council approved plans put forth by locally-based developers, Jones Brothers, to restore the central hospital building and convert it into apartments, with another 300 new homes to be built on the surrounding land. So the luxury hotels were out, and apartment buildings were in. As a bonus, the project is expected to add around 1200 jobs over the next 10 years (Pennar).

But, as often happens with these types of projects, locals in the area appear to be split as to whether or not they favor the idea. Some are looking forward to seeing the old hospital restored and being saved from ruin. Others make good arguments about the downfalls: the additional traffic it would bring, the pressures on schools and health services. Still others worry about who would be able to afford the homes. Would locals be able to afford them? Or would it encourage wealthy investors to buy them up as second homes? (Pennar) That certainly seems to be an issue everywhere these days.

Regardless, the project would be a major undertaking. After all, in 2021, it had already been 26 years since the hospital shut down, not to mention the multiple fires, vandalism, and the necessary demolition that took place in some areas. It would need a lot of funding.

Fortunately, that additional funding seems to have arrived in March of 2023. The North Wales Growth Deal is a one billion pound investment to the region’s economy, and seven million pounds of that have been set aside for funding the Hospital project. The hope is that the project will boost the local economy by 75 million pounds in addition to providing high quality housing (Hughes).

As of summer 2023, it doesn’t sound like there have been any significant changes, but plans appear to be in motion to turn the central section of the hospital into apartments, shops, restaurants, and a gym. The rest of the property is slated to add up to 300 homes styled on traditional Denbigh and Vale of Clwyd houses, and may include a shop, a pub, and a new location for the Denbigh Cricket Club (“History and Future of North Wales Hospital”). I guess we’ll wait and see what’s in store for this stunning old hospital.

And that’s where I’ll end the history of the North Wales Hospital. I am looking forward to delving deeper into the personal stories of patients and staff who lived and worked there and to see what else we can learn about the Denbigh Asylum. As I hope you’ve noticed in these series, the facts of the hospitals are only one aspect of its history. Come back next week to learn more about the people who lived behind the walls.

And, since it’s been a long while since I’ve done shout-outs, I want to welcome the newest members of the Facebook group! So welcome to Michael, Miranda, Nameeta, Shane, Jill, Trace, Lyn, Alex, Todd, Nikki, and Mary – so glad to have you as part of the group!

If you are a part of the Facebook group, you may have seen that I am toying with the idea of starting a Patreon for the show, and I’m curious to know what bonus content you would be interested in! I have a few ideas, but let me know if there’s anything else that you would like to hear or learn about.

The first two ideas go somewhat hand in hand. The advantage and disadvantage of having a podcast on old psych hospitals around the world is that there are so many to choose from. I could host this podcast for 20 years and not get through them all! So one idea I have for Patreon is the ability to select a hospital for me to cover. I have a list of hospitals right now that I’d like to talk about, but once I get through those, it would be great to have suggestions from listeners. Sort of in that same vein, my second idea is that I could post short dives on Patreon about different hospitals. So essentially one episode per hospital rather than a series.

My other ideas are more related to psychology in general. I could record episodes on Patreon about different psychiatric diagnoses. Obviously, my expertise is on severe and persistent mental illness, so diagnoses like schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, various personality disorders, etc. etc., but there are plenty of others I could talk about that are still well within my range of competency.

So far, it looks like most people are interested in learning about modern psychological treatments. Just to clarify, that would exclude psychiatry-based treatments that are outside my scope of practice, like medications, ECT, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, and Vagus Nerve Stimulation. Instead, I’d be talking about various CBT interventions, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (to the best of my ability), mindfulness, those sorts of things. 

So if any of those interest you, please let me know! There are a few ways you can get in touch with me: either on the Facebook group or Instagram page or by email behindthewallspodcast@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you!

As always, thank you for listening! I appreciate you so much. And remember the words of Maya Angelou: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.” Until next time…

“1946 National Health Service Act.” UK Parliament, 6 Nov. 1946. https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/livinglearning/coll-9-health1/health-01/#:~:text=The%20National%20Health%20Service%20Act,for%20Scotland%20and%20Northern%20Ireland

“Care in the Community.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Care_in_the_Community#Mental_health_and_community_care

“Compulsory Purchase Order.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_purchase_order

Davies, Shaun. “Denbigh author was ‘gobsmacked’ to find historic picture.” The Free Press, 27 Oct. 2021. https://www.denbighshirefreepress.co.uk/news/19673215.denbigh-author-gobsmacked-find-historic-picture/

“History and Future of North Wales Hospital.” The Leader, 9 Aug. 2022. https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/20612840.history-future-north-wales-hospital/

“History of NHS – 1960-1980.” My HSN. https://www.myhsn.co.uk/top-tip/history-of-nhs-1960-1980#:~:text=1962.&text=A%20“Hospital%20Plan%20for%20England,hospitals%2C%20with%20134%20extensively%20remodelled

Hughes, Owen. “Imposing North Wales asylum left to rot gets multi-million pound funding boost.” Daily Post, 11 March 2023. https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/imposing-north-wales-asylum-left-26444491

“Mental Health Act, 1959.” UK Parliament. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1959/72/pdfs/ukpga_19590072_en.pdf

“Mental Health Act 1959.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_Health_Act_1959

Michael, Pamela. Care and Treatment of the Mentally Ill in North Wales, 1800-2000. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2003. https://madnessofnorthwales.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Michael-P.-Care-and-Treatment-preface-1.pdf

Morris, Lydia. “Arsonists blamed for huge fire at former hospital.” Daily Post, 5 Apr. 2018. https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/denbigh-north-wales-hospital-fire-14495424

“National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990.” The Health Foundation, 29 June 1990. https://navigator.health.org.uk/theme/national-health-service-and-community-care-act-1990

Pennar, Sion. “Hopes and Fears over Abandoned Asylums Flats Plans.” BBC, 17 Sept. 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-58591446

Sutton, Lindsey. “The North Wales Hospital at War.” News from North East Wales Archives. https://denbighshirearchives.wordpress.com/2019/05/08/the-north-wales-hospital-at-war/

“Timeline: Denbigh’s North Wales Hospital.” BBC, 24 April 2018. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-43883974

“Wales in the World Wars.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wales_in_the_World_Wars#:~:text=Wales%2C%20as%20part%20of%20the,II%20(1939–1945).&text=Just%20under%20275%2C000%20soldiers%20from,at%20Mametz%20Wood%20and%20Passchendaele.

Wynne, Clwyd. The North Wales Hospital: Denbigh (1842-1995). Gwasg Helygain, Ltd: Denbighshire, 2006.