Lennox Castle and Associated Hospitals

Reference HB 20
Dates of Creation 1913-2004
Name of Creator
Lennox Castle Hospital (learning difficulties hospital : 1936-2002 : Lennoxtown, Stirlingshire)
Waverley Park Home (childrens' learning difficulties hospital : 1906-1993 : Kirkintilloch, Dunbartonshire)
Stoneyetts Hospital (learning difficulties and later psychiatric hospital : 1913-1992 : Chryston, Lanarkshire)
Blinkbonny Home (learning difficulties hospital : fl1920s-1940s : Falkirk)
Language of Material English
Physical Description 15 metres

Scope and Content

Correspondence of Medical Superintendents, 1913-1950;
Registers, 1915-2004 (including some entries made at Overtoun Court in 2002-2004);
Case notes, 1915-1954;
Miscellaneous, 1914-2002;
Minutes, 1948-1974;
Ledgers, 1933-1951;
Correspondence of Secretary/Treasurer, 1951-1974;
Maps and plans, 1933-1992;
Patient files, 1937-1976;
Admission warrants, 1950-1979.

Administrative / Biographical History

Waverley Park Home was run by the Glasgow Association for the Care of Defective and Feeble-Minded Children. Opened in 1906 it provided care for girls only. Stoneyetts Hospital was built by Glasgow Parish Council and opened in 1913. It was a certified institution for mentally deficient people under the Mental Deficiency and Lunacy (Scotland) Act of 1913. Stoneyetts became seriously overcrowded and arrangements were made with Falkirk Parish Council for patients to be cared for at Blinkbonny Home. Lennox Castle Hospital was built by Glasgow Corporation, also as a hospital for mentally deficient people. It had 1,200 beds when it officially opened in 1936 and was the largest MD hospital in Britain: a substantial number of patients were transferred from Stoneyetts to Lennox Castle. During the Second World War a large part of the hospital was requisitioned under the Emergency Hospital Scheme. Between 1941 and 1943, a 120 bed maternity unit was established as a "temporary" measure: this finally closed in 1964. In the early 1970s the bed complement reached a peak at 1,620, by 1991 this had fallen to 830. When the NHS was formed in 1948 the B of M for Lennox Castle and Associated Institutions was created to manage Lennox Castle Hospital, Caldwell House, Stoneyetts Hospital and Waverley Park Home. In 1974 they were placed in the Northern District of the GGHB. The Northern District was disbanded in 1984 and Unit 2 North assumed control.  By 1989 Unit 2 North had been disbanded and the GGHB Mental Health Unit became responsible for all hospitals providing services for people with severe learning difficulties.  In 1987 the Lennox Castle building ceased to be used and nurses were accommodated elsewhere. In 1992 Stoneyetts Hospital closed.  In 1994 Waverley Park Hospital was closed as a matter of urgency when a serious fire risk was identified.  In 1993/94 Lennox Castle Hospital became the responsibility of the Greater Glasgow Community and Mental Health Services NHS Trust which in turn was absorbed into the Primary Care Trust.  A planned reduction in the use of Lennox Castle Hospital began in the 1990s and the hospital closed in 2002.

Conditions Governing Access
Because of the sensitive nature of much of the information contained in these records there is a 75 year closure period on all patient records. There is a 100 year closure period on records of minors.

Physical Characteristics and/or Technical Requirements
None which affect the use of this material.

Appraisal Information
Appraised according to standard practice.

Accruals
Possible.

Related Material
HB 28, Records of Western Regional Hospital Board, Glasgow;
HB 32, Records of Glasgow Northern Hospitals Board of Management/District;
HB 55, Records of Greater Glasgow Health Board;
HB 106 Records of Primary Care NHS Trust;
GB 815 H/bank 2, Records of Lennox Castle Hospital, held at the Heatherbank Museum of Social Work (Part of Research Collections, Glasgow Caledonian University Archives).