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Sunnyside Ceramic

Sunnyside ceramic

19-20th century.

 

Of all the sites I've excavated, the Sunnyside Lunatic Asylum - now Hillmorton Hospital - had perhaps the most fascinating history: the amazing Gothic buildings (long gone now), the incredible (and laudable) ideals the early superintendents had, and the horrors experienced by many of the residents, particularly after the early days. One quote from a medical inspector of the asylum has stayed with me: "Here [the female refractory ward] I found a badly-lighted day-room excessively crowded with noisy and restless women, and the effect on a wet day was very painful. I wish our rulers could see them in such circumstances" (AJHR 1887 H9:9).

 

Frustratingly little of the patients' lives and experiences was revealed during the archaeological work. To me, this small fragment of china sums up the increasing institutionalisation of the asylum during the 19th century, as it moved away from the idealism of Edward Seager.

 

 

Katharine Watson, 2015.

Archaeologist, Cake Master, and the Boss!

 

 

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