Kew Lunatic Asylum is a decommissioned psychiatric hospital located between Princess Street and Yarra Boulevard in Kew, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Operational from 1871 to 1988, Kew Asylum was one of the largest asylums ever built in Australia. Later known as Willsmere, the complex of buildings were constructed between 1864 and 1872 to the design of architects G. W. Vivian and Frederick Kawerau of the Victorian Public Works OfficeDay to house the growing number of "lunatics", "inebriates", and "idiots" in the Colony of Victoria.
The first purpose-built asylum in the Colony of Victoria, Kew was also larger and more expensive than its sister asylums at Ararat and Beechworth. The asylum's buildings are typical examples of the Italianate architecture style which was popular in Victorian Melbourne. Designed to be elegant, beautiful, yet substantial, and to be viewed as "a magnificent asylum for the insane" with the aim of portraying Melbourne as a civilised and benevolent city whilst avoiding the jail-like appearance of other asylums.VPP1876 vol.3, p.57Day, p.31 These aims were furthered by the use of low ha-ha walls and extensively landscaped grounds. The complex was added to the Victorian Heritage Register on 20 August 1982 in recognition of its historic and architectural significance, and to the now defunct Register of the National Estate in March 1978.
Despite initial grand plans and ideals, Kew Asylum had a difficult and chequered history, contributing to several inquiriesDay, p.36VPP1876 throughout its 117 years of operation, including a Royal Commission.Zox Overcrowding, mismanagement, lack of resources, poor sanitation and diseases were common criticisms during the asylum's first five decades; out-dated facilities and institutionalisation were criticisms of Kew's later period.
Kew continued to operate throughout the 20th century as a "hospital for the insane", "mental hospital", or "psychiatric hospital", treating acute, long-term and geriatric patients until it closed in December 1988. The main building and surrounding grounds were sold by the Victorian Government in the 1980s and were redeveloped as residential properties.
Site and planning
During the 1850s, the existing lunatic asylums of the Colony of Victoria were overcrowded.Day, p.30 Yarra Bend Asylum, while only six years old, was considered unsuitableDay, p.22 and Carlton Lunatic Asylum (which was originally a gaol) was in a state of disrepair. As a result, in 1854 the Government of the Colony of Victoria commissioned a report proposing sites and designs for a new lunatic asylum. Contemporary educated opinion was that lunatic asylums should be built "on a healthy site, freely admitting light and air, and drainage ...[on] a gentle eminence in a fertile and agreeable country". In a report by the New South Wales' Inspector of Asylums, Frederick Norton Manning stated that "the site chosen is of primary importance. On it must depend the comfort, happiness and health of the inmates." p.166 Thus a hilltop site, across the Yarra River from Yarra Bend was recommended in a report by G.W. Vivian of the Public Works Office.Vivian, vol.4 p.949 Vivian described the site as: a section of land, about 400 acres in extent, situated on the River Yarra, about 4 miles from Melbourne, and ½ a mile to the north of the village of Kew ... the site selected is a fine slope, elevated about 100 feet above the level of the river, admitting of proper drainage and admirably adapted for ornamental grounds, the aspect chosen is south-east, and during the summer months the refreshing influence of the sea-breeze will be felt, without being exposed to south west gales.
G. W. Vivian, Report on the Proposed Kew Lunatic Asylum
The idea that breezes or wind-swept locations were healthy came from a wider Victorian belief that associated disease with congestion and squalor, and that miasmas of impure air caused epidemics. The area Vivian recommended for the asylum had originally been set aside for a village reserve.Walker, p.4 Locals from Kew were upset by the proposal and petitioned the government, to no avail. of land in the County of Bourke, parish of Boroondara, city of Kew were permanently reserved as a "Site for Lunatic Asylum" in the Government Gazette of 1864. Construction began in 1864, however was halted almost immediately with reports of inferior works on the foundations. An investigation followed and Frederick Kawerau resigned. Contractor Samuel Amess continued construction at Kew using Kawerau's designs. They were derived from plans earlier outlined by Vivian, and were basically identical to Kawerau's designs for Ararat and Beechworth, though Kew was much larger,Day, p.29 and more expensive at a cost of £198,334.According to Dr Dick's assessment in 1884 'the Kew Asylum for buildings, fittings, boundary walls, fencing, and laying on services of gas and water cost 198,334 pounds compared to Ararat [£]128,222 ... Beechworth [£]166,403' (Zox, vol.4 p.12)
Distinctive features
The asylum complex is an example of the E-plan lunatic asylums based on the model 1850s asylum in Colney Hatch, England,Day, p.32 which itself was based on the 1830 design of Hanwell Asylum in London. Kew was also considered a barracks style asylum due to its perceived resemblance to stockades or gaols.Day, p.37 The buildings are constructed from oversize bricks, made from local clay which was quarried on-site. The bricks were then rendered with cement.Day, p.34 The central administration block is three storied with a mansard roof and cupola. Two storeyed ward wings extend to each side, one for each sex. Each wing has a four-storey, mansard-roofed tower, which contained water tanks. The ward wings were surrounded by courtyards lined with iron columned verandas, many of which were retained when the complex was redeveloped.Cass Internally, the dormitories had ceilings and brightly coloured wallsDay, p.71 with the beds aligned in neat rows. The floors were of timber, principally so they could be scrubbed. The primary access to the complex was from a tree-lined drive from Princess Street (now known as "Main Drive") culminating in an elliptical carriageway in front of the main building. A second drive (now known as "Lower Drive") extended from Princess Street to the rear gates of the asylum. This road was commonly used for deliveries to and from the asylum via the rear gatehouse.
While Kew's plan and detail are similar to its sister asylums at Ararat and Beechworth, the Kew asylum is much larger with the front buildings and towers more impressive architecturally. Kew's distinctive towers and mansard roofs make it one of the most prominent architectural landmarks in Melbourne and is clearly visible on the eastern skyline.
Ha-Ha walls
Another distinctive feature of Kew Asylum and its sister asylums is the use of a variation on ha-ha walls around the patients' courtyards. 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, deterring them from escaping, while from outside the walls looked low so as not to suggest imprisonment. A journalist with The Argus described the walls as an "excellent arrangement, as it enables the patients to see the outside world, and does away with that gaol appearance and feeling inculcated by the walls of the old asylums".James (p.25), in Day. Many of Kew's ha-ha walls were retained and remain intact, unlike those at Beechworth and Ararat which were partially dismantled or the trenches were filled in.
Grounds and landscaping The grounds of the Kew Asylum were originally landscaped in the tradition of an English country park. This was consistent with the Victorian idea that pleasant or beautiful surroundings would help ease the mental anguish of the inmates.Connolly, p.9 It has been proposed that the initial plantings on the site were supplied by Baron Ferdinand von Mueller, director of the Botanic Gardens. Initially, the grounds were planted with many conifers and large growing trees, oaks, elms and Moreton Bay figs; and trees indigenous to the area, river red gum, yellow box, and lightwood were retained in the landscape. In 1913 the landscape gardener Hugh Linaker was employed to lay out the grounds of Mont Park Asylum. As landscape gardener for the State Lunacy Department he commenced a program of landscape improvements and tree plantings at other asylums in Victoria, including Kew.
The conifer plantings and oak avenues along Main and Lower Drives were well established and of a mature size by the 1940s. Conifers were widely planted from the 1860s along with Moreton Bay figs and occasionally oaks. Oaks and elms were more widely planted from the 1880s. It is not known if Linaker was responsible for the oak avenues, but it appears that many of the conifers, Monterey pines, Canary Island pines, Monterey cypress, hoop pine, bunya-bunya pines and Himalayan cedars, predate Linaker and the oaks and elms may have been planted soon after his appointment. The use of Bhutan cypress in the landscape is almost certainly due to Linaker as he favoured upright trees. It is possible that the two remnant Monterey cypress along Main Drive and a Monterey pine along Lower Drive are trees from an earlier planting scheme. Several trees and plants on the grounds of Kew Asylum and Kew Cottages have been classified as of historical significance by the Victorian Heritage Council and the National Trust of Australia (Victoria), and have been protected during the property's redevelopment.Walker, p.5, p.30, p.36
In addition to the asylum's ornamental gardens, the grounds featured vegetable gardens, farms and recreational areas such as cricket ovals and bowling greens. Little evidence remains of these structures except that there is now a road that encircles the former cricket oval.
Patients Many of Kew's early patients were transferred from Yarra Bend Asylum and Carlton Lunatic Asylum and were housed in the two main wings — men in the right wing, women in the left. The wards were dormitory style and were divided by patient type — male/female, paying/pauper, manageable/refractory. The area of the women's wards was smaller due to the laundries and drying courtyards being located on the women's side of the asylum.Day, p.67
Admission process
Under the Lunacy Statute of 1867, Lunacy Acts from 1880 to 1928 and Mental Hygiene Act of 1933, people could be admitted to the asylum by a number of means: At the request of a friend, relative or acquaintance, with medical certificates written by two medical practitioners. This method was amended by The Mental Health Act 1959 which stated a person could be admitted upon the recommendation of a medical practitioner who had examined the person. As soon as possible after admission the superintendent of the hospital was required to examine the patient and either approve the recommended admission or discharge the patient. Any (lunatic) person found wandering at large or not under proper care and control could be brought before two justices who could order the person's removal to an asylum. The police were usually responsible for bringing the person before the two justices. Any prisoner of the Crown thought to be a lunatic could be removed from a jail to an asylum by order of the Chief Secretary. Voluntary Boarders were those who requested that they be admitted for a mutually agreed period of time (from 1915 onwards).