Too Much to Bear
Poetry Helps
An article by Anwyl Cooper-Willis
The museum houses the story of the institution opened, in 1861, as Bristol Lunatic Asylum. Before the asylum was built it was derided by the mayor and city councillors as the ‘Lunatic Pauper Palace’. They were adamant that the building was an unnecessary expense and for 16 years the city managed to resist its legal requirement to provide decent accommodation for lunatics.
These images were derived from historic, documentary photographs which relate to the hospital and in the collection of the museum. The art collective, alldaybreakfast, to which I belong, were funded to be artists-in-residence at the Museum. While we were getting organised I joined the museum as a volunteer, to me it is a grippingly interesting, and deeply eccentric, place and I have never left. The outcome was that I made quite a lot of work relating to the Hospital.
These blocks are a graph of 5117 patient outcomes based on the case records held at Bristol Archives.
Each one represents 10 patients; green is for people discharged as Recovered or Relieved (improved). Grey is for people who died in the hospital. The darker the colour the longer their stay in the hospital.
Visit Us
Glenside Hospital Museum is located within the grounds of the old psychiatric hospital housed in the 1881 Grade II listed asylum church. The main hospital building is now used by the University of West of England as their Health and Social Care Campus. We’re in situated in the Grade II listed church just inside the grounds. For more details, including group booking and accessibility, please see our visiting page.
"If you have never been to Glenside Hospital Museum, it is a wonderful museum. It is not gloomy or depressing but fascinating and hopeful. A really progressive institution."
Julie Begen
"A fabulous history of the area, the hospitals, and of approaches to mental health and learning disabilities. An amazing array of artefacts, surgical instruments and ephemera. The staff were really welcoming and knowledgeable. Absolutely loved it!"
Lea Roberts
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