 | James Murray Royal Lunatic Asylum | JAMES MURRAY'S ROYAL ASYLUM FOR LUNATICS, PERTH. This Asylum is now open for the reception of patients; it is situated in a park, containing 12 acres on the acclicity of the Kinnoull Hill, is perfectly free from damp, and has a delightful view of the Grampian Mountains, the River Tay and the surrounding country; the grounds are walled round, for the purpose of security, privacy and restraint, and where convalescent patients are allowed to amuse and exercise themselves; there are smaller yards attached to the building, for the use of patients whose state requires more careful surveillance. The house was built from a plan of Mr Burn, architect, and consists of three floors; in the centre are the apartments of the superintendent and matron and by which those of the males and females are separated and the different individuals are classified, so as to prevent any unpleasant association; the building has four verandahs, by which patients can enjoy exercise in the open air, during the greatest heat of summer, or the most inclement weather of winter. The galleries are 98 feet long and 11 feet wide; the dining and bedrooms are large, commodious and cheerful, sufficiently secure to prevent escape, and free from the gloomy appearance of confinement. Apartments for those of the higher classes of life are furnished in the most handsome style, affording every accommodation and convenience for themselves and their attendants; rooms are devoted for sick patients, and while the establishment possesses all the advantages of a public institution, richly endowed, it is at the same time conducted on principles of the greatest privacy and comfort. The house is heated from a plan furnished by Mr Sylvester of London, and there are baths of every description on the most approved principles, with a most plentiful supply of excellent water. To persons whose unhappy state of mind renders confinement necessary, the asylum affords a comfortable retreat, where every attention is paid to them, and every means employed to effect a recovery; they are on all occasions treated with all the gentleness and indulgence of which their situation will admit, and no harsh treatment, either by keepers or nurses, is permitted on any account; it is an invariable rule that patients are never exposed, or their names revealed, nor any circumstances mentioned which can at all tend to hurt the feelings of themselves or their friends. November 1827. [Manchester Guardian 17 November 1827 page 1]
Plans at hospital.
Cost: £40,000.
See separate entries for other parts of hospital.
N.B. Howard Colvin notes that this is demolished but this is not correct. HS Listing are assessing it in 2014.
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