A priory for the Order of the Star of Bethlehem, built in 1247 on Bishopsgate at Liverpool Street, started admitting mental patients in 1357. This was probably the world's first institution to specialise in mental illness. It developed into a horrible place, known as Bedlam, dedicated to the commitment of the insane. In 1676 it moved to the London Wall site and it was this building that was adorned with the Cibber statues of Raving and Melancholy Madness. In 1815 Bedlam moved to the St George's Fields site (at that time owned by the City of London) in Southwark and, when in 1930 it moved out to a site near Beckenham, the Southwark buildings became the Imperial War Museum.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Bethleham Hospital 1&2
Commemorated ati
Bethlehem Hospital - first
Site of the first Bethlehem Hospital 1247 - 1676. The Corporation of the City...
Bethlehem Hospital - second
Site of the second Bethlehem Hospital, 1676 -1815. The Corporation of the Cit...
Gift from Lord Rothermere
This plaque was unveiled a second time, during the 75th anniversary celebrati...
Harmsworth - IWM
In 1926 Harold Harmsworth, the first Viscount Rothermere, bought the grounds ...
Other Subjects
3 memorials
Sir Bernard Spilsbury
Forensic pathologist. Born Leamington Spa, son of a manufacturing chemist. He was a pioneer in the science of determining the cause of death by examining a corpse and gave evidence in many cases ...
1 memorial
Sir Peter Medawar
OM, FRS, Nobel Laureate. Born Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His pioneering wartime research on tissue grafting won him the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, 1960. Not a fan of psychoanalysis - ...
2 memorials
Dr. Edward Adrian Wilson
Born Cheltenham. One of Scott's four companions who died with him, returning from the South Pole. Cheltenham honours Wilson with a statue on the Promenade and an exhibition in the town museum.
2 memorials
