Exminster Hospital
Former English mental health facility
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Exminster Hospital is a former mental health facility at Exminster, Devon, England. It is a Grade II* listed building.[1]
| Exminster Hospital | |
|---|---|
Exminster Hospital, now known as Devington Park | |
  Shown in Devon | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Exminster, Devon, England |
| Coordinates | 50.6826°N 3.5035°W |
| Organisation | |
| Care system | NHS |
| Type | Specialist |
| Services | |
| Emergency department | N/A |
| Speciality | Psychiatric Hospital |
| History | |
| Founded | 1845 |
| Closed | 1985 |
| Links | |
| Lists | Hospitals in England |
History
The hospital, which was designed by Charles Fowler using a radial plan of the panopticon type, opened as the Devon County Lunatic Asylum in July 1845.[2][3] Ceramic picture tiles were used to decorate the hospital; they depicted medieval musicians and one was a commemorative tile for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee dated 1887.[4] It was used as military hospital during the First World War and then became known as Devon Mental Hospital in the 1920s.[5]
It was badly bombed during the Second World War[2] and joined the National Health Service as Exminster Hospital in 1948 before becoming known as Exe Vale Hospital (Exminster Branch) in the 1970s.[5] After the introduction of Care in the Community in the early 1980s, the hospital went into a period of decline and closed in July 1985.[2] The main building was converted into apartments between 2001 and 2008 and is now known as Devington Park.[2]
See also
- Digby Hospital (a separate branch of Exe Vale Hospital)
- Wonford House Hospital
