Victorian Collections logo
The Beechworth Burke Museum
From the collection of The Beechworth Burke Museum
837 Items featured online

Photograph, 1930

  • An outdoor photograph displaying the facade of the MayDay Hills Mental Hospital. The garden in front of the building shows a fenced fountain and large tree.

    8190 (Cropped)

  • An outdoor photograph displaying the facade of the MayDay Hills Mental Hospital. The garden in front of the building shows a fenced fountain and large tree. The photograph has a white boarder with a strong crease in the bottom left corner.

    8190 (Obverse)

  • The reverse side of the photograph of the facade of MayDay Hills Mental Hospital with four 'Velox' watermarks. Inscribed in pencil is "Beechworth Lunatic Asylum Xmas 1930" with the 'Lunatic Asylum' crossed through with blue ink and written above is 'Mental Hospital'. In the bottom right is the collection item identifier number 8190

    8190 (Reverse)

  • An outdoor photograph displaying the facade of the MayDay Hills Mental Hospital. The garden in front of the building shows a fenced fountain and large tree.
  • An outdoor photograph displaying the facade of the MayDay Hills Mental Hospital. The garden in front of the building shows a fenced fountain and large tree. The photograph has a white boarder with a strong crease in the bottom left corner.
  • The reverse side of the photograph of the facade of MayDay Hills Mental Hospital with four 'Velox' watermarks. Inscribed in pencil is "Beechworth Lunatic Asylum Xmas 1930" with the 'Lunatic Asylum' crossed through with blue ink and written above is 'Mental Hospital'. In the bottom right is the collection item identifier number 8190

Historical information

Mayday Hills Mental Hospital was originally constructed in 1864 under the name of the Beechworth Lunatic Asylum. It was built for locals in need of help who were kept in the local gaol. In its first decade, the residents of the hospital were used as menial labourers but over time, as mental healthcare progressed, were cared for in more nuanced ways. This site became a training hospital for nurses in the 1960's. Eventually, mental health patients were moved to other care facilities and Mayday Hills was operating as a geriatric care facility. It was closed in 1995, after which the buildings and their grounds were purchased to La Trobe University to be used as a campus. The university sold the site in 2011 to private ownership.

This image depicts the front facade of the building and a portion of the gardens, including a fountain.

Significance

Mayday Hills Mental Hospital is a historically significant site for many factors. It is representative of healthcare practice in nineteenth century Victoria. It contains rare examples of construction and architecture. It is also significant for aesthetic and technical reasons.

Physical description

Black and white photograph printed on matte photographic paper

Inscriptions & markings

Reverse:
Mental Hospital/
Beechworth Lunatic Asylum/
Xmas 1930/
8190
VELOX (Watermark)

Subjects

References

  • DHHS - Beechworth Lunatic Asylum A basic history of the institution, including a listing of all names the site has been known as
  • VHD - Mayday Hills Hospital A visual and descriptive history of the site and a statement of significance
  • Beechworth - A Titan's Field by Carole Woods ISBN/ISSN: 0949905259 A book on the history of Beechworth and its surrounding areas. pp. 122, 123, 163, 192, 193
TOP
Back to top