Bethlem Hospital has occupied various sites across the
centuries. By the late seventeenth century, the hospital needed new
premises, partly to cater for increased numbers but also because
the existing building was 'very old, weak and ruinous'. From
Bishopsgate, Bethlem was first re-sited in 1676 to a magnificent
baroque building in Moorfields, designed by Robert Hooke. It was
the first purpose-built hospital for the 'insane' in the
country.
The new Bethlem had a grand façade but the inside was described
as "plainly a madhouse" in Scenes from Bedlam (Russell, D
1997). On each of the two main floors, huge galleries ran the
length of the building and acted as the dayrooms for those who were
fit enough to move about. This was also where patients saw their
visitors and where sightseers were allowed to view the inmates.
Individual cells or bedrooms opened off the gallery. High walled
'airing courts' were provided at either end of the building
"The galleries were like long corridors with individual
cells down one side. In the middle, iron gates divided the men from
the women. The place quickly became overcrowded so that extensions
were needed and then built." Scenes from Bedlam
(Russell, D 1997)
Once at the Moorfields site, rules were set out for the 'good
government' of Bethlem, whilst on the Moorfields site. They
included Rule Eight, which stated that "no Officer or
Servant shall beat or abuse any Lunatick, nor offer any Force to
them, but upon absolute Necessity, for the better governing of
them". Rule Five stated that "no Person should
give the Lunaticks Strong Drink, Wine, Tobacco, or Spirits: Nor to
be permitted to sell any such thing in the Hospital".
