What Was it Like in the Asylum?

Find out what life was like in the asylum by reading the fact file and looking at some original pictures & photographs. You can also print the sources and try the worksheets.

What do you think?

• Why do you think the Victorians put so much importance on a strict routine?
• If you had been a patient what would you have liked about the asylum?
• What would you have disliked?
• What modern day activities would you introduce into the asylum timetable?

	Life in the asylum would have been hard - strict discipline and routine were seen as essential for people to get better. The asylum was like a separate world and was self-sufficient. Patients would chop wood for fires, grow food, wash sheets and even made the nurses uniforms! Those who couldn't work were marched around grassed yards called airing courts for exercise. The wards were locked and there were high railings around the asylum so no one could escape. There were even look outpoints built into the staircases so staff could survey the corridors and day rooms.