A COLLECTION of historical documents detailing the life of a former asylum are being catalogued to make them more accessible than ever before.

Records such as patient details, committee meeting minutes and social event plans created between the North Wales Hospital's opening in 1848 and closure in 1995 will be included, many of which have never been seen.

Lindsey Sutton, project archivist for Denbighshire Archives, the county council's archive service, is excited about what the records could tell us about the changes in medical and social attitudes towards mental health since the mid-19th century

The archive team initially expected to handle about 25,000 records, however the figure has risen to 32,000 since the project began.

About 2,000 of the records date from 1842 to 1948.

Ms Sutton said the records are “untapped potential that will come to light” once the catalogue is made public in October, however this does not include personal records less than 100 years old due to data protection laws.

She said: “This is the first time the whole collection will be catalogued. The archive is massively important to understanding the development of mental health treatment since the hospital opened, as well as the social history of North Wales as the archives detail the lives people who were often undocumented in the early period.

“I was not aware of how much the treatment of mental health changed over the years and the records show how integral the hospital was in developing and using new methods.

“It went from an institution that only provided a care service in 1848 to an institution that was eventually able to offer medical treatment by the 20th century.”

By the mid-19th century every county in Great Britain was required to have an institution for people who were then called ‘lunatics’ and ‘the insane’ to receive care

The North Wales Hospital was designed after a committee of landowners, clergy and businessmen in Denbigh agreed on the need for an asylum in North Wales and, in 1842, they began gathering public donations, including £50 from Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

The building work started in 1844 and soon the five North Wales councils – Denbighshire, Flintshire, Caernarfonshire, Merionethshire and Anglesey – funded the rest of the project.

Ms Sutton said: “The asylum was the first place in North Wales to care for the mentally ill, which was hugely important. Many of these people from the area were sent to England beforehand, where they were at a disadvantage because they couldn’t speak in their own language.

“The asylum also opened discussion and research about the best ways to treat mentally ill people; in the early days of the asylum, conditions would be described as ‘mania’ or ‘hysteria’ when now we’d likely have a better idea of what is causing the symptoms, like PTSD for example.

“The asylum also challenged the stigma surrounding mental illness, with community projects and social events which the town community would attend.

“It helped that the Denbigh community embraced the asylum and today they see it as a part of their own history.”

For more information about the project call Denbighshire Archives on 01824 708250 or visit the website.