The Lawn, Lincoln facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Lawn |
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The Lawn
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 Location in Lincolnshire
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| Geography | |
| Location | Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England |
| Coordinates | 53°14′06″N 0°32′38″W / 53.23500°N 0.54389°W |
| Organisation | |
| Care system | National Health Service |
| Funding | Public hospital |
| Hospital type | Mental health |
| History | |
| Founded | 1817 |
| Closed | 1985 |
The Lawn is an old building in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. It was built a long time ago, in the early 1800s. The building looks like ancient Greek temples, a style called Greek revival. It is located on Union Road, not far from Lincoln Cathedral. The area around The Lawn has a special garden with walls and a play area for children. For many years, from 1921 to 1985, this building was a hospital called The Lawn Hospital for Mental and Nervous Diseases.
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History of The Lawn
The idea for this hospital came from a gift left by a doctor named Paul Parnell. He wanted to create a place in Lincoln to help people with mental health challenges. After some delays, the project started in 1817. The building was designed by an architect named Richard Ingleman. It opened in April 1820 and was first known as the Lincoln Lunatic Asylum.
New Ways to Help Patients
In the 1830s, something very important happened at this hospital. A man named Robert Gardiner Hill, with help from Dr. Edward Parker Charlesworth, started using a new way to treat patients. They believed that people with mental health issues should not be held back with physical restraints or forced to do things. They worked hard to treat all types of patients without using these methods. By 1838, they had completely stopped using physical restraints at The Lawn.
Other doctors, like Sergeant John Adams and Dr. John Conolly, were very impressed by Hill's work. They brought this new method to a much larger hospital called Hanwell Asylum. By September 1839, no patient at Hanwell Asylum needed physical restraints either. This was a big step forward in how people with mental health conditions were treated.
Changes Over Time
The hospital's name changed a few times. In 1905, it became the Lincoln Lunatic Hospital. Then, in 1921, it was renamed The Lawn Hospital.
At first, the hospital helped different kinds of people. Some patients could pay for their care, while others who had less money received help from the hospital's charity funds. A well-known psychiatrist named Mary Barkas worked as the main doctor at the hospital from 1928 to 1933.
In 1948, the hospital became part of the National Health Service. This meant it was funded by the government to provide healthcare to everyone. Later, in 1985, the hospital closed. This was because of a new approach called "Care in the Community." This idea focused on helping people with mental health needs closer to their homes, often in smaller local centers, instead of large hospitals.
What is The Lawn Now?
After the hospital closed, the City of Lincoln Council bought the building. They used it as a place for events until 2016. Then, a company called R. W. Stokes & Sons bought The Lawn. They have turned the property into their main office, and it also has a cafe, a restaurant, and a theater. A special glass building with tropical plants, called the Sir Joseph Banks Conservatory, was moved from the site in late 2016.
Images for kids
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The Lawn building today.
