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Coordinates: 37°17′S 142°56′E / 37.28°S 142.93°E / -37.28; 142.93
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{{Short description|Former hospital in Victoria, Australia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Use Australian English|date=May 2011}}
{{Use Australian English|date=May 2011}}
{{Infobox hospital
{{Infobox hospital
| Name = Aradale Mental Hospital
| Name = Aradale Mental Hospital
| Image =
| Image = Ararat Lunatic Asylum - Aradale Psychiatric Hospital.jpg
| Caption = Façade of the Aradale Mental Hospital in 2011.
| Caption = Façade of the Aradale Mental Hospital in 2011.
| Location = [[Ararat, Victoria|Ararat]]
| Location = [[Ararat, Victoria|Ararat]]
Line 19: Line 20:
| Website = {{URL|www.aradale.com.au}}
| Website = {{URL|www.aradale.com.au}}
| Wiki-Links = [[List of Australian psychiatric institutions]]}}
| Wiki-Links = [[List of Australian psychiatric institutions]]}}
{{paranormal}}
'''Aradale Mental Hospital''' was an Australian [[psychiatric hospital]], located in [[Ararat, Victoria|Ararat]], a rural city in south-west [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], [[Australia]]. Originally known as '''Ararat Lunatic Asylum''', Aradale and its two sister asylums at [[Kew Asylum|Kew]] and [[Beechworth Asylum|Beechworth]] were commissioned to accommodate the growing number of 'lunatics' in the [[History of Victoria|colony of Victoria]]. Construction began in 1864, and the guardhouses are listed as being built in 1866 though the list of patients extends as far back as the year before (1865). It was closed as an asylum in 1998 and in 2001 became a campus of the [[Melbourne Polytechnic]] (Previously known as NMIT) administered ''Melbourne Polytechnic's Ararat Training Centre''.
'''Aradale Mental Hospital''' was an Australian [[psychiatric hospital]], located in [[Ararat, Victoria|Ararat]], a rural city in south-west [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], [[Australia]]. Originally known as '''Ararat Lunatic Asylum''', Aradale and its two sister asylums at [[Kew Asylum|Kew]] and [[Beechworth Asylum|Beechworth]] were commissioned to accommodate the growing number of 'lunatics' in the [[History of Victoria|colony of Victoria]]. Construction began in 1864, and the guardhouses are listed as being built in 1866 though the list of patients extends as far back as the year before (1865). It was closed as an asylum in 1998 and in 2001 became a campus of the [[Melbourne Polytechnic]] (Previously known as NMIT) administered ''Melbourne Polytechnic's Ararat Training Centre''.


Line 26: Line 28:


==Distinctive features==
==Distinctive features==
⚫
The asylum complex is an example of the E-plan [[barracks]] type lunatic asylums based on the model 1850s asylum in [[Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum|Colney Hatch]], England.<ref name="day" >{{cite thesis| first = Cheryl| last = Day| title = Magnificence, Misery and Madness – A History of the Kew Asylum| publisher = Unpublished University of Melbourne PhD thesis| url = https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/handle/11343/39457| year = 1999}}</ref>{{rp|32}} Ararat is very similar in design to its sister asylums at Kew and Beechworth, however Ararat's use of linking bridges with an arcade on an arched gateways is unique. Kew is considered to be an example of [[Second Empire (architecture)|Second Empire]] design, whereas Ararat<ref name="VICH1223"/> and Beechworth are considered more typically [[Italianate]], though both styles have similar characteristics. The buildings are constructed from oversize bricks, which were then rendered with cement.<ref name="RNE3977">{{Cite AHPI|RNE3977|Aradale Mental Hospital| accessdate = 2008-11-15}}</ref> Two storeyed ward wings extend to each side, one for each sex.<ref name="day"/> The ward wings were surrounded by [[courtyard]]s lined with iron columned [[veranda]]s,<ref name="RNE3977"/>
The asylum complex is an example of the E-plan [[barracks]] type lunatic asylums based on the model 1850s asylum in [[Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum|Colney Hatch]], England.<ref name="day" >{{cite journal
| first = Cheryl
| last = Day
| title = Magnificence, Misery and Madness – A History of the Kew Asylum
| publisher = Unpublished University of Melbourne PhD thesis
| url = https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/handle/11343/39457
| year = 1999}}
⚫
</ref>{{rp|32}} Ararat is very similar in design to its sister asylums at Kew and Beechworth, however Ararat's use of linking bridges with an arcade on an arched gateways is unique. Kew is considered to be an example of [[Second Empire (architecture)|Second Empire]] design, whereas Ararat<ref name="VICH1223"/> and Beechworth are considered more typically [[Italianate]], though both styles have similar characteristics. The buildings are constructed from oversize bricks, which were then rendered with cement.<ref name="RNE3977">{{Cite AHPI|RNE3977|Aradale Mental Hospital| accessdate = 2008-11-15}}</ref> Two storeyed ward wings extend to each side, one for each sex.<ref name="day"/> The ward wings were surrounded by [[courtyard]]s lined with iron columned [[veranda]]s,<ref name="RNE3977"/>


===Ha-Ha Walls===
[[Image:Kewhaha.jpg|right|280px]]
[[Image:Kewhaha.jpg|right|280px]]
Another distinctive feature of Ararat and other early Victorian asylums is the use of a variation on [[Ha-ha|Ha-Ha walls]] around the patients' courtyards.<ref name="VICH1223">{{Cite AHPI|VICH1223|Aradale| accessdate = 2008-11-15}}</ref> They consisted of a trench, one side of which was vertical and faced with stone or bricks, the other side sloped and turfed. From the inside, the walls presented a tall face to patients, preventing them from escaping, while from outside the walls looked low so as not to suggest imprisonment.<ref name="walk1">{{cite web
Another distinctive feature of Ararat and other early Victorian asylums is the use of a variation on [[Ha-ha|ha-ha walls]] around the patients' courtyards.<ref name="VICH1223">{{Cite AHPI|VICH1223|Aradale| accessdate = 2008-11-15}}</ref> They consisted of a trench, one side of which was vertical and faced with stone or bricks, the other side sloped and turfed. From the inside, the walls presented a tall face to patients, preventing them from escaping, while from outside the walls looked low so as not to suggest imprisonment.<ref name="walk1">{{cite web| last = Cass| first = Daniel| title = Kew Lunatic Asylum – Historical Walk| publisher = ASAP | url = http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/pubs/articles/asa97/gifs/KEWwlk1.jpg| format = jpg| accessdate = 2008-09-01| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20080822155236/http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/pubs/articles/asa97/gifs/KEWwlk1.jpg| archivedate= 22 August 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref>
| last = Cass
| first = Daniel
| title = Kew Lunatic Asylum – Historical Walk
| publisher = ASAP
| url = http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/pubs/articles/asa97/gifs/KEWwlk1.jpg
| format = jpg
| accessdate = 2008-09-01| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20080822155236/http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/pubs/articles/asa97/gifs/KEWwlk1.jpg| archivedate= 22 August 2008 | url-status= live}}
</ref>


===Grounds and landscaping===
===Grounds and landscaping===
In 1913 the landscape gardener Hugh Linaker was employed to layout the grounds of [[Mont Park Asylum|Mont Park]]. As landscape gardener for the State Lunacy Department he commenced a program of landscape improvements and tree plantings at asylums in Victoria. Linaker was already familiar with the area having previously laid out the grounds of Alexandra Park in [[Ararat, Victoria|Ararat]].<ref name="RNE3977"/> Unfortunately, only a few remnants of the Linaker's plantings remain.<ref name="VICH1223"/>
In 1913 the landscape gardener [[Hugh Linaker]] was employed to layout the grounds of [[Mont Park Asylum|Mont Park]]. As landscape gardener for the State Lunacy Department, he commenced a program of landscape improvements and tree plantings at asylums in Victoria. Linaker was already familiar with the area, having previously laid out the grounds of Alexandra Park in [[Ararat, Victoria|Ararat]].<ref name="RNE3977"/> Only a few remnants of the Linaker's plantings remain.<ref name="VICH1223"/>


==J Ward==
==J Ward==
{{Main|J Ward|l1=J Ward}}
{{Main|J Ward|l1=J Ward}}
In December 1886 the old gaol at Ararat was proclaimed as "[[J Ward]]" of the Ararat Asylum. It was to cater for those persons who were detained in any jail, [[reformatory]] or [[industrial school]] or other place of confinement who appeared to be insane. The ward was not a separate institution in its own right and has continued to function as a division of the Ararat Mental Hospital. "J Ward" was always regarded as a temporary measure.<ref name="PROV">{{cite web
In December 1886, the old gaol at Ararat was proclaimed as "[[J Ward]]" of the Ararat Asylum. It was to cater for those persons who were detained in any jail, [[reformatory]] or [[List of industrial schools|industrial school]] or other place of confinement, who appeared to be insane. The ward was not a separate institution in its own right and has continued to function as a division of the Ararat Mental Hospital. "J Ward" was always regarded as a temporary measure.<ref name="PROV">{{cite web
|title=''Agency VA 2841'' Ararat Asylum
|title=''Agency VA 2841'' Ararat Asylum
|publisher=Public Records Office of Victoria
|publisher=Public Records Office of Victoria
Line 59: Line 45:
|url-status=dead
|url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725195340/https://www.access.prov.vic.gov.au/public/component/daPublicBaseContainer?component=daViewAgency&entityId=2841
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725195340/https://www.access.prov.vic.gov.au/public/component/daPublicBaseContainer?component=daViewAgency&entityId=2841
|archivedate=25 July 2008
|archivedate=25 July 2008
|df=dmy
}}</ref>
}}</ref>


A new institution was to be built at [[Sunbury Asylum|Sunbury]] for the retention of the criminally insane. However, when the building was nearing completion it was decided that it would house females only and males would remain at "J Ward". In May 1988 the Minister for Health announced that "J Ward" was to be closed over the next year.
A new institution was to be built at [[Sunbury Asylum|Sunbury]] for the retention of the criminally insane. However, when the building was nearing completion it was decided that it would house females only and males would remain at "J Ward". In May 1988, the then Minister for Health announced that "J Ward" was to be closed over the next year.


⚫
The decommissioning of Aradale began in the early 1990s, with patients transferred to community living and to other facilities. After December 1993, the Ararat Forensic Psychiatry Centre was the only remaining ward. In 1997, the remaining patients at AFPC were eventually transferred to Rosanna, until the new [[Thomas Embling Hospital]] in [[Fairfield, Victoria|Fairfield]] was completed.<ref name="knowles">{{cite press release
==Decommissioning==
⚫
The decommissioning of Aradale began in the early 1990s, with patients transferred to community living and to other facilities. After December 1993 the Ararat Forensic Psychiatry Centre was the only remaining ward. In 1997, the remaining patients at AFPC were eventually transferred to Rosanna, until the new [[Thomas Embling Hospital]] in [[Fairfield, Victoria|Fairfield]] was completed.<ref name="knowles">{{cite press release
| title = Aradale to close as work proceeds on new forensic centre - Knowles
| title = Aradale to close as work proceeds on new forensic centre - Knowles
| publisher = Department of Human Services
| publisher = Department of Human Services
Line 73: Line 57:
| accessdate =2008-11-14 }}</ref>
| accessdate =2008-11-14 }}</ref>


==Current use==
==Current Use and the Paranormal ==
[[File:Aradale Mental Hospital.jpg|alt=Gate and white hospital building|thumb|Hospital building in 2017]]
[[File:Aradale Mental Hospital.jpg|alt=Gate and white hospital building|thumb|Hospital building in 2017]]
In 2001 the Victorian Government provided $7.4 million to [[Melbourne Polytechnic]] to establish a campus of the ''Melbourne Polytechnic's Ararat Training Centre'' on the site of the hospital. 30 hectares of vineyard and 10 hectares of olive grove were planted in 2002 and an olive processing facility and winery were later built on site. The first planting at the Ararat campus was of 28 hectares of vines, which produced the first vintage in 2005. Since commencing training and research at Aradale in 2002, Melbourne Polytechnic also established a 250 tonne winery, a four hectare lavender farm and extensive training facilities. The Polytechnic campus was established to provide in Victoria a world-class wine and hospitality training facility.<ref>[[Lynne Kosky]], '[http://www.budget.vic.gov.au/domino/web_notes/budgets/budget01.nsf/77a4bf9f4e5005c64a2567600023b4a3/3deff15ba382525b4a256a4d0018c349!OpenDocument State-of-the-Art Australian College of Wine] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090602115848/http://www.budget.vic.gov.au/domino/web_notes/budgets/budget01.nsf/77a4bf9f4e5005c64a2567600023b4a3/3deff15ba382525b4a256a4d0018c349%21OpenDocument |date=2 June 2009 }}'', Budget statement from the Minister For Post Compulsory Education, Training & Employment, Victorian Government, 15 May 2001. Accessed 3 September 2008</ref>
In 2001, the Victorian Government provided $7.4 million to [[Melbourne Polytechnic]] to establish a campus of the Melbourne Polytechnic's Ararat Training Centre on the site of the hospital. 30 hectares of vineyard and 10 hectares of olive grove were planted in 2002, and an olive processing facility and winery were later built on site. The first planting at the Ararat campus was of 28 hectares of vines, which produced the first vintage in 2005. Since commencing training and research at Aradale in 2002, Melbourne Polytechnic also established a 250 tonne winery, a four hectare lavender farm, and extensive training facilities. The Polytechnic campus was established to provide a world-class wine and hospitality training facility in Victoria.
There are regular paranormal investigations at the hospital, and it is considered one of the most haunted locations in Victoria, possibly all of Australia.
<ref>[[Lynne Kosky]],
'[http://www.budget.vic.gov.au/domino/web_notes/budgets/budget01.nsf/77a4bf9f4e5005c64a2567600023b4a3/3deff15ba382525b4a256a4d0018c349!OpenDocument State-of-the-Art Australian College of Wine]
{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090602115848/http://www.budget.vic.gov.au/domino/web_notes/budgets/budget01.nsf/77a4bf9f4e5005c64a2567600023b4a3/3deff15ba382525b4a256a4d0018c349%21OpenDocument |date=2 June 2009 }}'', Budget statement from the Minister For Post Compulsory Education, Training & Employment, Victorian Government, 15 May 2001. Accessed 3 September 2008</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
Line 82: Line 73:
*[[Beechworth Asylum]]
*[[Beechworth Asylum]]
*[[List of Australian psychiatric institutions]]
*[[List of Australian psychiatric institutions]]



==References==
==References==
Line 95: Line 85:
{{Hospitals in Victoria}}
{{Hospitals in Victoria}}


⚫
[[Category:1865 establishments in Australia]]
⚫
[[Category:1997 disestablishments in Australia]]
[[Category:Ararat, Victoria]]
[[Category:Ararat, Victoria]]
[[Category:Psychiatric hospitals in Australia]]
[[Category:Psychiatric hospitals in Australia]]
[[Category:Defunct prisons in Victoria (Australia)]]
[[Category:Defunct prisons in Victoria (state)]]
[[Category:Defunct hospitals in Australia]]
[[Category:Defunct hospitals in Victoria (state)]]
⚫
[[Category:Hospitals in Victoria (Australia)]]
[[Category:Hospital buildings completed in 1991]]
[[Category:Hospital buildings completed in 1991]]
⚫
[[Category:History of Victoria (Australia)]]
[[Category:Hospitals established in 1865]]
[[Category:Hospitals established in 1865]]
[[Category:1993 disestablishments]]
[[Category:Hospitals disestablished in 1997]]
[[Category:1865 establishments in Australia]]
[[Category:Reportedly haunted hospitals]]
[[Category:Reportedly haunted locations in Victoria (state)]]

Latest revision as of 21:04, 22 September 2024

Aradale Mental Hospital
Map
Geography
LocationArarat, Victoria, Australia
Coordinates37°17′S 142°56′E / 37.28°S 142.93°E / -37.28; 142.93
Organisation
TypeSpecialist
Services
Emergency departmentNot Applicable
Beds900+[1]
SpecialityPsychiatric
History
Opened1865
Closed1998
Links
Websitewww.aradale.com.au
ListsHospitals in Australia
Other linksList of Australian psychiatric institutions
Part of a series on the
Paranormal
Main articles
Skepticism
Parapsychology
Related

Aradale Mental Hospital was an Australian psychiatric hospital, located in Ararat, a rural city in south-west Victoria, Australia. Originally known as Ararat Lunatic Asylum, Aradale and its two sister asylums at Kew and Beechworth were commissioned to accommodate the growing number of 'lunatics' in the colony of Victoria. Construction began in 1864, and the guardhouses are listed as being built in 1866 though the list of patients extends as far back as the year before (1865). It was closed as an asylum in 1998 and in 2001 became a campus of the Melbourne Polytechnic (Previously known as NMIT) administered Melbourne Polytechnic's Ararat Training Centre.

Construction

[edit]
The asylum in 1880.

The asylum was designed by G. W. Vivian and John James Clark (at this time Vivian's assistant), adapting Vivian's initial designs for a similar buildings in Kew and Beechworth. Building commenced at Kew (Kew Lunatic Asylum), Ararat and Beechworth (Beechworth Asylum) at roughly the same time, however Ararat was completed first. The building of Ararat was contracted to O'Grady, Glynn and O'Callaghan[2] and not patients (or "inmates" as they were called) as many erroneously believe. The asylum was built as a town within a town with its own market gardens, orchard, vineyards, piggery and other stock kept on the grounds. At its height it had over 500 staff and as it stands today the complex is made up of 63 buildings ranging in age from the original wings built in the 1860s to the modern forensic unit which was built in 1991 - only two years before the facility closed. Despite being closed as an asylum the facility continued to house female prisoners during the building/renovation of Dame Phyllis Frost Centre right up until its current management took over in 2001.[citation needed]

Distinctive features

[edit]

The asylum complex is an example of the E-plan barracks type lunatic asylums based on the model 1850s asylum in Colney Hatch, England.[3]: 32  Ararat is very similar in design to its sister asylums at Kew and Beechworth, however Ararat's use of linking bridges with an arcade on an arched gateways is unique. Kew is considered to be an example of Second Empire design, whereas Ararat[4] and Beechworth are considered more typically Italianate, though both styles have similar characteristics. The buildings are constructed from oversize bricks, which were then rendered with cement.[2] Two storeyed ward wings extend to each side, one for each sex.[3] The ward wings were surrounded by courtyards lined with iron columned verandas,[2]

Another distinctive feature of Ararat and other early Victorian asylums is the use of a variation on ha-ha walls around the patients' courtyards.[4] They consisted of a trench, one side of which was vertical and faced with stone or bricks, the other side sloped and turfed. From the inside, the walls presented a tall face to patients, preventing them from escaping, while from outside the walls looked low so as not to suggest imprisonment.[5]

Grounds and landscaping

[edit]

In 1913 the landscape gardener Hugh Linaker was employed to layout the grounds of Mont Park. As landscape gardener for the State Lunacy Department, he commenced a program of landscape improvements and tree plantings at asylums in Victoria. Linaker was already familiar with the area, having previously laid out the grounds of Alexandra Park in Ararat.[2] Only a few remnants of the Linaker's plantings remain.[4]

J Ward

[edit]
Main article: J Ward

In December 1886, the old gaol at Ararat was proclaimed as "J Ward" of the Ararat Asylum. It was to cater for those persons who were detained in any jail, reformatory or industrial school or other place of confinement, who appeared to be insane. The ward was not a separate institution in its own right and has continued to function as a division of the Ararat Mental Hospital. "J Ward" was always regarded as a temporary measure.[6]

A new institution was to be built at Sunbury for the retention of the criminally insane. However, when the building was nearing completion it was decided that it would house females only and males would remain at "J Ward". In May 1988, the then Minister for Health announced that "J Ward" was to be closed over the next year.

The decommissioning of Aradale began in the early 1990s, with patients transferred to community living and to other facilities. After December 1993, the Ararat Forensic Psychiatry Centre was the only remaining ward. In 1997, the remaining patients at AFPC were eventually transferred to Rosanna, until the new Thomas Embling Hospital in Fairfield was completed.[7]

Current Use and the Paranormal

[edit]
Gate and white hospital building
Hospital building in 2017

In 2001, the Victorian Government provided $7.4 million to Melbourne Polytechnic to establish a campus of the Melbourne Polytechnic's Ararat Training Centre on the site of the hospital. 30 hectares of vineyard and 10 hectares of olive grove were planted in 2002, and an olive processing facility and winery were later built on site. The first planting at the Ararat campus was of 28 hectares of vines, which produced the first vintage in 2005. Since commencing training and research at Aradale in 2002, Melbourne Polytechnic also established a 250 tonne winery, a four hectare lavender farm, and extensive training facilities. The Polytechnic campus was established to provide a world-class wine and hospitality training facility in Victoria.

There are regular paranormal investigations at the hospital, and it is considered one of the most haunted locations in Victoria, possibly all of Australia. [8]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Aradale". Archived from the original on 10 August 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d "Aradale Mental Hospital (listing RNE3977)". Australia Heritage Places Inventory. Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Retrieved 15 November 2008.
  3. ^ a b Day, Cheryl (1999). Magnificence, Misery and Madness – A History of the Kew Asylum (Thesis). Unpublished University of Melbourne PhD thesis.
  4. ^ a b c "Aradale (listing VICH1223)". Australia Heritage Places Inventory. Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Retrieved 15 November 2008.
  5. ^ Cass, Daniel. "Kew Lunatic Asylum – Historical Walk" (jpg). ASAP. Archived from the original on 22 August 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
  6. ^ "Agency VA 2841 Ararat Asylum". Public Records Office of Victoria. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 14 November 2008.
  7. ^ "Aradale to close as work proceeds on new forensic centre - Knowles" (Press release). Department of Human Services. 11 November 1997. Retrieved 14 November 2008.
  8. ^ Lynne Kosky, 'State-of-the-Art Australian College of Wine Archived 2 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Budget statement from the Minister For Post Compulsory Education, Training & Employment, Victorian Government, 15 May 2001. Accessed 3 September 2008
[edit]
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