Historical information

This photograph is one of approximately 43 original photographs and photocopies of buildings, patients and staff assembled in a red covered, spirally bound photograph album (the album itself is now discarded and the images stored separately). The images in the album cover the period from the 1870s to 1965. A few photographs have inscriptions on the reverse; others had later separate labels in the album. The album was presumably compiled as a public record. It and other items came from the collection assembled by Dr Fred Stamp, the last medical superintendent of Willsmere Hospital before its closure in 1988. Original photographs have been uploaded to and described on Victorian Collections. The album itself is listed and linked separately showing the photographs in situ.

Significance

A number of the photographs from the Willsmere Hospital album are confronting, especially given the condition of the buildings and facilities depicted, as well as the casual photographs of patients, which some viewers may find distressing. The album and its photographs are however an historically significant visual record of the Kew Mental Hospital, especially in the years 1951-1965.

Physical description

Black and white photograph of Ward F9 in the Kew Mental Hospital.

Inscriptions & markings

"Willsmere 1972. Ward F9. Vacant foreground area where 'Tent' stood - burnt out fire 1967. Six (6) elderly ladies burnt to death. Four (4) escaped. Ward: closed from time of fire."