St. Audrys Hospital

St. Audrys Hospital
Opened	1829
Closed	1993
Current Status	Preserved
Building Style	Corridor Plan
Architect(s)	Scott and Moffats
Location	Woodbridge
Alternate Names	Suffolk County Asylum for Pauper Lunatics Suffolk District Asylum St Audry’s Hospital for Mental Diseases

History

In 1765, the Looes and Wilford Hundred Incorporation built a ‘House of Industry’ or workhouse at Melton which stood in a ‘healthy and airy situation’ as was often preferred by such institutions. The main job of the House of Industry was to purchase cotton thread, iron, wood, hemp, wool, stone and leather for making articles which could be sold for profit. Buildings included a brew-house, chapel, mill-house and washhouse which stood in thirty acres of land. By 1826, the workhouse was closed and its contents auctioned off and inmates returned to the community. The buildings and site were purchased by Suffolk County for £10,000. In 1829, after much building work, the former workhouse became the Suffolk County Asylum for Pauper Lunatics. In 1906 this name was changed to Suffolk District Asylum, a title only discarded as recently as 1930.

Staff at the Suffolk County Asylum were dedicated to improving the lives of patients, none more so than Dr Kirkman. He was opposed to the idea of using personal restraint, but preferred instead: “…watchfulness, activity, gentleness, and that peculiar tact acquired by long training to replace contests of strength between patient and keeper.” (Knight, 1980, 14). Kirkman also championed the idea of practical employment, an early version of occupational therapy. He also firmly approved of the idea that St Audry’s should emulate a home setting: “The beneficial effect of decoration and ornamentation in furnishing the wards has often been pointed out…”

From about 1917, the asylum was also known as St Audry’s Hospital for Mental Diseases, later shortened to St Audry’s Hospital. The hospital continually struggled with overcrowding (report – Kirkman). A report from 1844 suggests this was only just kept under control at times. It mentions a ward “on the basement floor in which the worst class of females is placed…” (Knight, 1980, 14).

The hospital was finally closed in 1993 and converted for use as residences. The administration block with the main entrance has been a listed building since 11 June 1985, and the South Entrance Pavilion has been Grade II listed since 14 November 1997. Both were tastefully restored.