# Royal Sunnyside Hospital, Montrose - April 2018



## jsp77 (Jun 11, 2018)

Sunnyside Royal Hospital was a psychiatric hospital located in Hillside, north of Montrose, Scotland. The hospital was founded in 1781 by Susan Carnegie as the Montrose Lunatic Asylum, Infirmary & Dispensary and obtained a Royal Charter in 1810. The original building was situated on the Montrose Links on a site bounded by Barrack Road, Ferry Road and Garrison Road.

In 1834, the Governors of the asylum, carrying out the wishes of Mrs Carnegie (who had strongly advocated the appointment of a medical specialist in insanity) appointed the phrenologist William A.F. Browne as medical superintendent. Browne was to prove an inspired choice and an energetic and resourceful leader. He regarded public education as part of his duties, and gave a series of lectures which became enormously popular and influential. In 1837, five lectures were published together under the title What Asylums Were, Are and Ought To Be; this book came to the attention of the Dumfries philanthropist Elizabeth Crichton. She travelled to Montrose, interviewed Browne and offered him the equivalent post at the Crichton Royal in Dumfries. Crichton offered Browne a raise from £150 to £350 per annum. Browne was succeeded at Montrose by Richard Poole, an early psychiatric historian, and, later, by Dr James Howden, who identified cases of pellagra in the asylum.

In 1858, a new improved asylum was completed to the north of Montrose in the village of Hillside on lands of the farm of Sunnyside and the old site was vacated. This site was further developed with the construction of a new facility for private patients called Carnegie House in 1899. Despite this addition, overcrowding was a problem, as the asylum's patient numbers had grown to 670 by 1900. This situation required additional building work to be undertaken. Consequently, two new buildings - Howden Villa (1901) and Northesk Villa (1904)- were added to the facility. Additional staff were required to care for the additional patients and the Westmount Cottages were built in 1905 to house them. In 1911 the lease of Sunnyside Farm finally expired and over 52 acres were purchased for the sum of £4500. A further development was the addition of Angus House, which was built in 1939 to accommodate elderly patients suffering from dementia.

In 1948, the National Health Service 1946 (Scotland) Act brought the hospital under control of the Eastern Regional Hospital Board. Its name was changed from the Royal Asylum of Montrose to the Royal Mental Hospital of Montrose. In 1962 it became Sunnyside Royal Hospital and came under the jurisdiction of new management. During the 1950s and 1960s, the introduction of new drugs lessened the need for prolonged admission of patients. In addition, the Mental Health (Scotland) Act of 1960 also significantly altered legislation in respect of mental illness and reduced the grounds on which someone could be detained in a mental hospital.

The archives of the hospital are held by Archive Services, University of Dundee as part of the NHS Tayside archive.

The site was officially closed in late 2011 and most patients were sent to a new £20 million build at Stracathro Hospital (also in Angus) - the Susan Carnegie Centre. Others were placed in the community. Sunnyside was open for 230 years before its closure, and was the oldest psychiatric hospital in Scotland.



Explore,

I visited this with PV, was only planned to be a quick visit but turned out to be much longer due to the fact that the site is huge and just so much to see.

We spent one night camped out in Carnegie only to find out we had been sealed in at some point early in the morning, luckly we found a way out lol.

Whilst we were there we were lucky enough to see most of the buildings on site with out too many complications. The one disappointing part was that almost all the sinks have now been smashed and taps removed.​

On with the photos

The Main Building


https://flic.kr/p/25mjers


https://flic.kr/p/287hoSM


https://flic.kr/p/25miURS


https://flic.kr/p/JsmMgg


https://flic.kr/p/271TiqS


https://flic.kr/p/25miqvo


https://flic.kr/p/271T32f


https://flic.kr/p/287gJtH


https://flic.kr/p/271SPxC


https://flic.kr/p/287gumz


https://flic.kr/p/26JKMWT


https://flic.kr/p/KYjjSw


https://flic.kr/p/25mhNwQ


https://flic.kr/p/271Sa4o


https://flic.kr/p/25mhDVS


https://flic.kr/p/KYiRKW


https://flic.kr/p/287fM8T


https://flic.kr/p/287fDcH


https://flic.kr/p/271RzKu


https://flic.kr/p/25mh7Rh


https://flic.kr/p/KYik3o


https://flic.kr/p/287f8nn


https://flic.kr/p/26JJMHP


https://flic.kr/p/271QLn3


https://flic.kr/p/KYhSey


https://flic.kr/p/26JJvmR


https://flic.kr/p/282Tntq


https://flic.kr/p/26JJeU8


https://flic.kr/p/25mgba3

A long exposure at night


https://flic.kr/p/282T5cb


Part 2 - the rest of the site

Booth House


https://flic.kr/p/271PQWA


https://flic.kr/p/Jsj7Nt


https://flic.kr/p/KYh25G


https://flic.kr/p/287e2Da


https://flic.kr/p/25mfBkA


Occupational Therapy


https://flic.kr/p/287dVxn


https://flic.kr/p/271PfaS


https://flic.kr/p/KYgovu


https://flic.kr/p/KYggV5


https://flic.kr/p/KYgd9s


https://flic.kr/p/271NW5y


The Infirmary


https://flic.kr/p/26JGw2x


https://flic.kr/p/25meTc7


https://flic.kr/p/271NAWd


https://flic.kr/p/271NvCN


https://flic.kr/p/287cRa6


https://flic.kr/p/Jshy4H


https://flic.kr/p/287cxde


Carnegie Clinic


https://flic.kr/p/JshosP


https://flic.kr/p/26JFGak


https://flic.kr/p/Jsh9Tp


https://flic.kr/p/25me6rQ


https://flic.kr/p/25mdVuf


https://flic.kr/p/271MsvC


https://flic.kr/p/282Quef


https://flic.kr/p/26JF1NK


The Forge


https://flic.kr/p/282Qe2S


https://flic.kr/p/282Q7c9


The Morgue


https://flic.kr/p/25md9aC


https://flic.kr/p/KYerGy​

Thanks for looking


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## MD (Jun 11, 2018)

great set of pictures there


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## HughieD (Jun 11, 2018)

That's one of the best report I have seen so far this year. Corking stuff JSP. Loads to see and very well covered.


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## KPUrban_ (Jun 11, 2018)

Stunning report. The Infirmary looks like the best bit especially the dentist or whatever it is.


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## Electric (Jun 11, 2018)

Wonderfully dated hospital. Brilliant report and photos JSP.


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## jsp77 (Jun 12, 2018)

MD said:


> great set of pictures there



Thanks MD:&#55357;&#56833;


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## jsp77 (Jun 12, 2018)

Cheers Hughe, we was there for a few days and luckily got round vertually all of it


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## jsp77 (Jun 12, 2018)

KPUrbex said:


> Stunning report. The Infirmary looks like the best bit especially the dentist or whatever it is.



Thanks KPU, yes it was a dentist chair.




Electric said:


> Wonderfully dated hospital. Brilliant report and photos JSP.



Cheers Electric


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## Rupertbear1 (Jun 12, 2018)

Wow. Fabulous report and what a place eh?


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## krela (Jun 13, 2018)

Superb photos!


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## Sam Haltin (Jun 13, 2018)

That's a nice collection of photographs. There is a website called Friends of Sunnyside which show the then photos. Memories Of Sunnyside - Scotland's Oldest Asylum


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## Ferox (Jun 13, 2018)

Excellent that JSP77. I reckon you covered most of it  Great shots also mate. Spot on.


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## Mikeymutt (Jun 14, 2018)

Great report and pics jsp..sadly I was pushed for time.so only got the main bit done but was pleased what I saw.you covered it well


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## jsp77 (Jun 25, 2018)

Mikeymutt said:


> Great report and pics jsp..sadly I was pushed for time.so only got the main bit done but was pleased what I saw.you covered it well



Cheers Mikey, maybe a revisit is on the cards for you


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