# Cane Hill: Archive Footage from the 1950s



## Simon (May 19, 2010)

The following are a series of screen grabs taken from "Mental: The History Of The Madhouse" first shown on BBC4 on the 17th May.


_First broadcast on the 17th May 2010, Mental: The History Of The Madhouse featured patients, doctors, psychologists and historians talking about the history of the asylum from the 1950s onwards. An extremely powerful programme, it combined people’s experiences of the asylums and the treatments undertaken with contemporary, dramatised and archive footage._

The programme focussed on High Royds with additional recollections of a patient from Hellingly. However, several other asylums were featured in the archive footage, and scenes from Cane Hill were often shown. This came from the same source as used by the BBC’s Inside Out programme and appears to show exteriors and interiors of Cane Hill shot in the 1950s.





Male patients exercise in an airing court. It's difficult to determine the exact location but it's either the southern flank of Male Ward F or Male Ward H.






Further shots of male patients exercising. The cameraman is on the first floor of Male Ward H shooting from a bay window roughly south east across No. 4 Garden and just capturing the end of Male Ward F.











The footage moves onto these cramped beds in a dormitory. It could be Cane Hill due to the cast iron pillars but it's difficult to be certain.







The camera pans through 180 degrees but keeps low. The base of several doors are captured in this shot, but it still difficult to figure out where this is.








A final wide view of the dormitory is too low to determine absolutely the ward's location.








The view switches to the Administration Block of Cane Hill. Therefore the dormitory footage is bookended by Cane Hill shots, so could be from the hospital.








One of the infamous metal enclosed walkways of Cane Hill. The sanitation tower (identified by the pipes) reveals this to be the elevated connection between Male Ward E and Male Ward F.







The camera pans left to settle on the sanitation tower of Male Ward E.







This shot shows the first and second floors of the end of Male Ward F and the top of a stepped airing court wall. These walls were demolished in the 1950s.







A low shot of the exterior plumbing of a sanitation tower. The exact position of the cameraman isn't known but it could be the sanitation tower of Male Ward F or Male Ward H.






A male patient chats with an attendent in an airing court. The exact position of the cameraman isn't known.







More footage is included in a later part of the programme. From its filming style and quality, it would also appear to be from the Cane Hill archive. The location of this male day room isn't known.







The view switches to male patients sitting down for a meal in the gallery outside a row of single rooms. It appears to be too wide for Male Ward D, but could be from Male Ward F or Male Ward H.







This is definitely Cane Hill and shows the horseshoe-shaped main corridor. The camera is positioned at the entrance to Male Ward F and captures the corridor between Male Ward E and Male Ward D.







Female patients exercise in the Main Hall. Unfortunately the camera remains low (so faces can't be seen) and it's difficult to determine whether this is Cane Hill. And the shots I have of the Main Hall show the other direction, and not the stage, so I can't confirm its provenance by the characteristic air vents at either side of the stage.







This view has always been difficult to pinpoint. I used to believe that it was the view from the airing court gate towards Female Ward H (see the diagram below), but the angles of the ward don't match the film. Plus why would the cameraman suddenly move to the female side of the hospital and why would a male attendent be closing the gate? I now believe this is on the male side of the hospital, possibly of Ward F or H. However, this shot remains unidentified until an accurate plan of all the airing court walls, gates and shelters is found.





All the best,
Simon


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## Anthillmob74 (May 19, 2010)

recorded it and am just watching it now. thanks so much for your post.


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## Kezza (May 20, 2010)

I also watched this. It featured High Royds aswell. Was a good documentary! Didint realise that Cane Hill was also on there!!!!!


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## possessed (Aug 17, 2010)

Great footage. Is there any way in which I can watch this, as I missed it due to A level revision


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## silverstealth (Aug 18, 2010)

Superb archive images and good research there Simon.


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## dangerous dave (Aug 18, 2010)

this may be a long shot but i got talking to a guy at an exhibition i had recently that said he had shot some footage back in the day of cane hill. distinct possibility that this is the footage he worked on


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## Potter (Aug 20, 2010)

Top notch.


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