Swanbourne Hospital Conservation Area

Child Places

• 03972 Hospital Director's Residence, Garage & Grounds
• 02667 Administration Building Swanbourne Hosp
• 02666 Montgomery Hall

Statement of Significance

The complex is historically and socially important as an institution designed for the care and treatment of the mentally ill about 80 years ago, replacing the Fremantle Asylum which then became an Old Women' s Home (now classified by the Trust as the Fremantle Museum and Art Centre) . It was designed by J.H. Grainger, Chief Architect
of the P.W.D., in association with the newly arrived Inspector General for the Insane, Dr. S.H.R. Montgomery. Situated on a hill the in buildings stand out as a landmark in the surrounding area and have a pleasing continuity of style in their construction.
The grounds are attractively landscaped , the Norfolk Island pines forming a link with the Cottesloe pines. There are some fine eucalypts in the enclosed gardens of the wards and around the nurses training centre. Although adapted internally to meet the requirements of more recent times the buildings remain as a rare and well maintained example of an institution planned at the beginning of the 20th century .

ADMINISTRATION BUILDING SIGNIFICANCE:
This building was designed by J H. Grainger, Principal Architect of the P.W.D. and
is the centre from which all the other functions of the Hospital radiate and visually it is the centre piece of the crescent lay-out of the complex. It has an impressive facade with the gable over the portico emphasising the central entrance balanced by the two storey bay windows at each end. Within the building is a fine wooden stair­ case with timber turned balustrade. It has been .in use as the administrative centre since it was first occupied in 1906 and there have been few irreparable changes in the original construction.

Physical Description

The important elements within the Conservation Area are:

Administration building and stores, Montgomery Hall {former Dining and Recreation Hall), the crescent shaped series of ten Ward blocks with their enclosed gardens, the Water Tower, Nurses' Quarters and the two old buildings of the Nurses• Training Centre (former Isolation Hospital and Montessori School) with the Norfolk Island pines and old established eucalypts in the grounds .
The buildings are of red brick with sandstone foundations, the original slate roofs having been replaced with clay Marseilles tiles. Liberal use was made of rendered string courses and there are decorative turrets and chimneys. There have been no major changes in the exterior of the main buildings, which have been well maintained but the wards have been updated internally over the years and a number of sheds, stores, garages , etc.,(some of a temporary nature) have cluttered the space more recently. These additions are not included in the assessment.

Most of the buildin gs were erected between 1904 and 1912 by the Public Works Depart­ ment to plans drawn by J.H. Grainger in consultation with Dr. S,H.R . Montgomery who had before leaving England learnt something of the principles of asylum construction from Mr. Hine, architect to the Board of Commissioners and a noted designer of asylums. The boundaries of the Conservation Area are shown on the attached plan (A) where the important elements within it are listed.
ADMINISTRATION BUILDING: The porch and ground floor of the building are of sandstone with the floor above of brick. The original slate roof has been replaced with clay Marseilles tiles, the typical chimneys of the complex remaining in position. It was completed in 1906.

History

Assessment 1983
Less than two years after the arrival of Dr. S.H.R. Montgomery to tak e up the new post of Superintending Officer of Asylums (l ater lnspcctor­ General for the Insane) Reserv e No. 8636 of 394 acres at Claremont was set aside for a new asylum on 27 Feb. 1903. By August 18th of the same year twenty patients were moved into temporary buildings on the site.
Prior to this mental patients were accommodated at Whitby Fall s, bought for the purpose in 1896, and the Fremantl e Asylum, now the Fremantle Museum and Art Centre .

During his previous post as assistant medical officer in Nottingham
Dr Montgomery came in contact with Mr .HineT a noted designer of asylums and architect to the Board of Commissioners and from him he learnt the principles of asylum construction. Shortly after his arrival in W.A. he went with Mr. J.H. Grainger, Principal Architect of the P.W.D.T to the Eastern States to inspect asylums and have discussions with col leagues there.

It is clear from the annual report of the P.W.D. for 1904 that by then overal l plans for the whole compl ex, including water supply and drainage, had been drawn up. The completed scheme was to give accommodation for 678 patients and provide for the following buildings: Administration
bui ldings, including stores and work shop block, kitchen block, dining and recreation hall, male attendants block, female attendants block, male division with blocks of buil dings for patients in several categories, female divisions with bl ocks for patients in the same categories plus sew­ ing room and laundry block and miscell aneous buildings and works such as isolation hospital, mortuaryT residence for the Inspector General , roads and approaches, water supply and drainage. The pl anned construction was carried out by 1910 though numerous other buil dings have been added over the years.

The foll owing dates with regard to erection of the early buildings have been obtained from the Annual Reports of the Inspector General for the Insane:

1903 Temporary buildings erected to take 20 patients.
1904 - Work shops & stores completed and some portions used for temporary patient accommodation.
1905 - Administration, kitchen, dining and recreation blocks, and blocks for male and female attendants almost completed and machinery and laundry blocks and four or five wards well under way.
1906 - Four more ward blocks started.
1907 - Kitchen completed - temporary kitchen previously in use. 1908 - Two male blocks accommodating 200 patients completed.
1910 - Inspector General's residence completed.

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.