State Government heritage lists Graylands Hospital

2/3/02
Graylands Hospital, Western Australia's primary mental health care facility, has been listed by the State Government on WA's Register of Heritage Places.
Environment and Heritage Minister Dr Judy Edwards said the hospital had significant social and cultural value to the State - reflecting the history of mental health treatment in WA for nearly a century.
"Graylands, which includes the Fortescue House group and the 1939-built Gascoyne House, is the remaining part of a wider site once occupied by Claremont Hospital for the Insane," Dr Edwards said.
She said Claremont Hospital was established in 1904 to replace the overcrowded existing asylum at Fremantle.
It followed the promulgation of a new Lunacy Act in 1903 and reflected a move to a 'care and treatment' approach, rather than incarceration of the mentally ill.
Gascoyne House was planned as an admissions ward but was resumed as a military hospital from the start of World War II until 1952. It became Graylands Day Hospital in 1959.
"This again heralded new psychiatric care approaches, from hospitalisation towards that of community psychiatry," Dr Edwards said.
"Accordingly, redevelopments to the hospital reflected this change in approach."
The Minister said Graylands' ongoing social significance to the community was also evident in the continued involvement of former staff in the Graylands Museum Committee and the many volunteers active at the site.
Developed over a period of time, the Fortescue House group includes the former ward blocks, Pastoral Centre, Anderson Hall, the original rotunda and gardens.
Minister's office: 9220 5050