Ward notice giving details of rules for visitors and regulations for patients sending letters

Rules for hospital visitors and regulations for patients sending and receiving letters are detailed on this ward notice. It was displayed at St Audry’s Hospital in Suffolk. It states all patient parcels were checked, but not letters. Presumably this was to stop banned substances or objects such as knives entering the hospital. A patient’s relatives and friends were allowed to visit once a fortnight, but not on Sundays. However, in the case of serious illness they could visit any time of night or day. This notice symbolises the extensive rules and regulations that characterised much psychiatric care. It also indicates the growing contact between psychiatric patients and the wider world during the 20th century.

Hospital ward letter box for the posting of patients' letters, Suffolk, England, 1870-1910.

Letter boxes in asylum wards allowed patients to communicate with the outside world. The number of people confined to asylums grew rapidly after the 1890 Lunacy Act. This gave local officials the power to order internment. Some patients spent their lives in such institutions. The institutions were often self-sufficient, with little contact with the outside. This example was collected from the Asylum Museum at St Audry's Hospital in Suffolk, England, when the hospital and the museum closed in the late 1980s.

Box containing 21 plastic tokens, in various colours, used as an incentive for patients taking part in occupational therapy at St Aubry's Hospital. Tokens were stamped with a particular value (such as 9d or 2/6) and were redeemable at the hospital canteen.

Box of card and linen tokens used as an incentive for patients taking part in occupational therapy, unsigned, England, 1939-1945.

These tokens were reward payments to patients for work done in asylum workshops or gardens. This work was a type of occupational therapy. Coloured tokens were exchanged for items such as cigarettes and cakes. They encouraged positive behaviour and were crucial in upholding asylums’ elaborate systems of privileges.

St Audry’s Hospital opened in 1765 as a workhouse for the poor. It became the Suffolk County Lunatic Asylum in 1827. The hospital was also known as St Audry’s Hospital for Mental Diseases from 1917. The hospital and the associated Asylum Museum shut down in the late 1980s. This object was once displayed at the museum.

Cash book used to record payments made to patients as part of incentive scheme for occupational therapy

St. Audry’s Hospital, Suffolk recorded payments made to patients in this book. This was part of an incentive scheme for occupational therapy. The hospital opened in 1829, originally as the Suffolk County Asylum for Pauper Lunatics. Early on, it had used manual labour such as gardening or laundry work as therapy. In the 1900s, it began using more expressive therapies such as arts and crafts as rehabilitation. It introduced occupational therapy for men in 1934 and for women in 1947. This empty payments book indicates patients could only work in three-hour blocks. All monies were signed for by patient and nursing staff.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) machine, with two head electrodes and handles, Model R1135, from St Audry's Hospital, SIFAM Electrical Instruments LTD England, 1945-1960. Voltage meter made by AEI.

St Audry’s Hospital opened in 1765 as a workhouse for the poor. It became the Suffolk County Lunatic Asylum in 1827. The hospital was also known as St Audry’s Hospital for Mental Diseases from 1917. The hospital and the associated Asylum Museum shut down in the late 1980s. This object was once used at St Audry's and later displayed at the museum.

Large earthenware jug, with hospital crest, for use in ward, 1924-1950

St Audry’s Hospital opened in 1765 as a workhouse for the poor. It became the Suffolk County Lunatic Asylum in 1827. The hospital was also known as St Audry’s Hospital for Mental Diseases from 1917. The hospital and the associated Asylum Museum shut down in the late 1980s. This object was once used on the wards at St Audry's and later formed part of the Asylum Museum's collection.

Earthenware basin, with hospital creast, for use in ward, 1924-1950

Earthenware soap dish, with hospital crest, for use in ward, 1924-1950

Earthenware chamber pot, with hospital crest, handle less, for use on ward, 1924-1950

Shaving mug, with hospital crest, for use on ward, 1924-1950

Knife and fork for carving meat, carved with ward number M12, 1851-1907

Teaspoon, fork and tablespoon stamped S.C.A.

Fork, stamped S.L.A., for use by patient, by J. Lewis, Sheffield(?), 1891-1924

Fork, stamped S.M.H., for use by patient from ward M13,nickel silver 1901-1924

Teaspoon, fork, dessertspoon and tablespoon stamped S.A.H.

Book used by nursing staff for ordering new ward supplies, red cover, perforated pages, 1901-1950

Picture of St Audry's Hospital painted by patient

Dominating the canvas of this painting is a large house with an extensive garden and a greenhouse. A man in the foreground tends to flowers and waters the fruit and vegetables. It is not your typical image of a psychiatric hospital. The painting was made by a patient at St Audry’s Hospital in Suffolk, England. The ‘house’ in the painting resembles the hospital building at St. Audry’s. In many respects, the artist faithfully captured the ideals of ‘moral treatment’. These included manual labour and a calming, home-like environment. Moral treatment dominated psychiatry when St. Audry’s was founded in 1829. These ideals remained influential into the 1900s. The hospital had extensive and productive gardens. Patients tended them as part of their rehabilitation. The painting may have been painted for personal pleasure or as part of an art therapy programme. Psychoanalysis became prominent in the early 1900s. Psychiatrists saw therapeutic value in self-expression such as painting or poetry as well as manual labour. St Audry’s introduced occupational therapy for men in 1934 and for women in 1947. Paintings also allowed patients to indirectly comment on their feelings about life in a mental hospital. Look closely at the windows of the house. You can see a psychiatrist in a white coat observing the scene. A woman, perhaps the artist, looks out from another window. Is she trapped or is she painting?

Iron used by patients in hospital laundry

Patients in the laundry department of St Audry’s Hospital in Suffolk used this iron. The hospital opened in 1829. During the 20th century, it used manual labour such as gardening or laundry work as therapy. This stimulation was thought healthy for mind and body. The iron may have been part of this work therapy. It was only used by a patient considered stable enough.

In the 20th century, many institutions began using more expressive therapies such as arts and crafts as rehabilitation. Suffolk County Asylum was renamed St Audry’s Hospital in 1919. It introduced occupational therapy for men in 1934 and for women in 1947.

Basket used by asylum patients for carrying laundry and stores

Patients in the laundry department of St Audry's Hospital used this basket. Opened in 1765, the hospital was originally a workhouse for the poor until it became the Suffolk County Lunatic Asylum in 1827. From 1917, the hospital was also known as St Audry's Hospital for Mental Diseases.

Box of buttons of type used by patients when making clothes

Hat worn by patient when working on hospital farm

St Audry’s Hospital opened in 1765 as a workhouse for the poor. It became the Suffolk County Lunatic Asylum in 1827. The hospital was also known as St Audry’s Hospital for Mental Diseases from 1917. The hospital and the associated Asylum Museum shut down in the late 1980s. This object was once displayed at the museum.

Shepherd's crook used on hospital farm

Griddle used on hospital farm, St Audry's Hospital, Suffolk

Spade used on hospital farm

Workers on the St Audry's Hospital farm used this spade. Opened in 1765, the hospital was originally a workhouse for the poor until it became the Suffolk County Lunatic Asylum in 1827. From 1917, the hospital was also known as St Audry's Hospital for Mental Diseases.

Cobbler's foot, used by patients for making shoes

Patients in St Audry's Hospital were encouraged to keep busy and this cobbler's foot was used by a patient for making shoes. Opened in 1765, the hospital was originally a workhouse for the poor until it became the Suffolk County Lunatic Asylum in 1827. From 1917, the hospital was also known as St Audry's Hospital for Mental Diseases.

Glass slide encouraging recruitment of Psychiatric nurses to St. Audry's Hospital

Glass slide encouraging recruitment of Psychiatric nurses to St. Clements Hospital

"Suicide tag" used to give an individual nurse responsibility for a suicidal patient

This ‘suicide tag’ was used at Suffolk District Asylum between 1900 and 1935. It gave an individual nurse responsibility for a suicidal patient. Tags were handed over at the end of every shift to the next nurse on duty. This ensured continuous observation of the patient. The tag is made of brass. It is embossed with the name of the institution and the words, ‘This patient is not to be left’ and ‘No.41’. The number could mean 40 similar labels existed. This would indicate a significant number of vulnerable patients at risk within the Hospital.

Town pass for patient St. Audry's Hospital, previously the Suffolk County Asylum for Pauper Lunatics, Melton, Suffolk

Rules, regulations and behaviour expected of patients when they were allowed to visit the local town were outlined on this town pass. It was issued in 1953 by St Audry’s Hospital in Suffolk. This pass indicates the increasing level of freedom allowed to some patients during the 1950s. Institutions closely controlled their behaviour and how they were perceived by the local community. Patients were not allowed to visit pubs, drink alcohol or post letters for other patients. They had to dress tidily at all times and return to the hospital by 7pm. Passes such as this indicate progress towards integration within the wider community. This attitude characterises today’s psychiatric care.

Uncompleted mechanical restraint register

Psychiatric hospital staff recorded which patients had been physically restrained or kept in seclusion, and for what reasons. This empty register is probably a spare copy. Details noted were the means and duration of restraint, the name and sex of the patient, and whether they were a temporary or certified patient. The register outlines the Lunacy Act of 1830. This introduced government oversight of private asylums to prevent some of the worst abuses. It includes the regular amendments issued throughout the first half of the 1900s. This reminded hospital staff how far psychiatric institutions had improved since the early 1800s. It reinforced the fact excessive unjustified use of restraints and extended periods of seclusion were illegal. The first significant drug treatments appeared in mental hospitals in the mid-1950s. Restraint and seclusion were lessened, but never eliminated.

Nurses training school badge

Brass observation hole from St. Audry's Hospital, previously the Suffolk County Asylum for Pauper Lunatics (founded 1829), Melton, Suffolk

Is somebody watching you? Mounted on a door at the Suffolk County Asylum a century ago, this brass peephole allowed doctors and warders to check on a patient locked in solitary confinement. Perhaps few objects communicate the stigma and the loneliness of living with mental illness as well as this one. An eye peering occasionally through the peephole may have been the only human contact the inmate received for days. It was carefully engineered to protect both patients and staff. It had no window glass, since broken glass could become a weapon for those intent on committing suicide or wounding their keepers. For the same reason, the room itself would probably have had no windows, or at least no glazed ones. Welded pegs also prevented the peephole’s cover from being broken off or twisted open from inside the cell. The Suffolk County Asylum for Pauper Lunatics (later renamed St. Audry's Hospital) was founded in 1829. Around the same time, a small number of English asylums for mentally ill patients, inspired by the ideals of moral therapy, were renouncing the use of physical restraint. However, large government-funded institutions like Suffolk, with patients whose families could not afford to pay for exceptional care, continued to rely on straitjackets and solitary confinement to subdue patients whom doctors judged likely to harm themselves or others. Frequently, suicidal patients would be put in the cell naked, to prevent them from tying clothing around their necks or swallowing strips of fabric. While potentially life-saving, it stripped patients of their dignity. New laws in the 1800s required asylums to carefully record every time they confined or secluded a patient, and to state why. This curbed some of the abuses associated with earlier asylums such as Bedlam, where some patients could be kept in chains or solitary confinement for years. To a scared, unclothed, suicidal patient behind this peephole, however, such slow legislative changes must have felt worlds away.

Improvised knife made by a patient at St Audry's Hospital

This improvised knife was made by a psychiatric patient at St Audry’s Hospital in Suffolk. Details of the patient are unknown. He or she clearly took considerable time creating this makeshift artefact. It is also unknown whether the knife was for an escape attempt or something more sinister.

Rule book for nurses and attendants at St. Audry's Hospital