The Printed Word

St Lawrence's monthly magazine, The Beacon, was first published and printed on a mimeograph in January 1961. Containing a dozen pages or so of contributions from both staff and patients, it was a means of communication throughout the large hospital network. The magazine's first editor was Dr D.J.Jones and it survived for over 27 years before being replaced in April 1988 by the monthly Deryvadow newsletter. In April 1993, Deryvadow was replaced by a new magazine, Connect 3. 

Together, The Beacon and Deryvadow covered the news, views and activities throughout thirty two years of hospital life from 1961 to 1993. A short Christmas 1989 edition of Dervadow can be viewed here reminiscing about earlier Christmases within St Lawrences Hospital along with some pages from other issues about the hospital's history and a few pages from the Beacon. (In Flickr, click/tap on the two arrows, upper right, for a larger view of the images.)

St Lawrence's Laundry Demolition

The demolition of St Lawrence's laundry, estates, shoemakers, tailors, seamstress departments and mortuary. Further images here.  Interior photos of the laundry here courtesy of Nigel Harris.

Hospital Grounds 1950s

Postcard of St Lawrence's grounds in the 1950s, courtesy of Maggie Atherton. Foster and Rashleigh buildings in the foreground. Beyond the trees, views of Kendall and Carew buildings, high building and the old laundry. A few larger images here. 

Collecting memories of St Lawrence's Hospital

Collecting memories of St Lawrence's Hospital at the Shire Hall, Mt Folly, Bodmin from 22nd - 27th September 2014. For further detail, click above to enlarge image.  

The Asylum Stories team have been collecting memories of St Lawrence’s Hospital (formerly Cornwall County Asylum) and will be in residence at the Shire Hall, Mount Folly, Bodmin from 22^nd – 27^th September 2014 to share these stories and, hopefully, collect some more. 

Monday 22nd September

 2-4pm CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP – Anna Maria Murphy

Cornish wordsmith Anna Maria (Kneehigh Theatre) will lead a workshop for ex St Lawrence’s patients and family members. Participants will be offered a chance to use a range of creative techniques to help them record their memories. No previous writing experience necessary.  PLEASE BOOK IN ADVANCE AS PLACES WILL BE LIMITED 

Tuesday 23rd September

11am-1pm CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP – Emma Mansfield

Bodmin based author and artist Emma will lead this workshop for anyone with memories to share of St Lawrence’s. No previous writing experience necessary. PLEASE BOOK IN ADVANCE AS PLACES WILL BE LIMITED

2.30-4pm SILVANUS TREVAIL – ARCHITECT AND MAN OF VISION–Hazel Harradence

Talk by local historian and author Hazel about the man who designed the Foster Building. Hazel has kindly offered to bring relevant archival material relating to Silvanus Trevail for browsing 

Wednesday 24th September

1pm OPEN SESSION

Drop in to hear some stories, share your memories and view our display

2.30-4pm BRIEF HISTORY OF ST LAWRENCE’S HOSPITAL 1824-1986 – Tony Sandry

Talk by the former administrator of St Lawrence’s about the hospital’s history 

Friday 26th September

12-4pm  OPEN SESSION AND OPTIONAL WORKSHOP – A RECIPE FOR MENTAL WELLBEING

Emma Mansfield will lead this workshop with support from the Asylum Stories team. Participants can consider what they do to maintain good mental health and then share a ‘visual recipe’ with others 

Saturday 27th September

10am-2.30pm  OPEN SESSION AND CAKE COMPETITION

We are holding a cake competition – the one requirement is that the entry is in some way inspired by St Lawrence’s. All competitors will need to offer a brief description of how their cake relates to the hospital. All entries to be submitted by 11am, judging at 1pm – there will be prizes.

FREE REFRESHMENTS WILL BE ON OFFER AT ALL EVENTS

TO BOOK FOR WRITING WORKSHOPS OR FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT THE TEAM ON asylumstoriesbodmin@gmail.com OR  07443579046 


 RADIO CORNWALL

A discussion held on September 17th promoting the above events can be heard on Radio Cornwall via BBC iPlayer. Starts ten minutes in: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0260kyy

RADIO CORNWALL
A discussion held on September 3rd about the above events can be heard on Radio Cornwall via BBC iPlayer. Discussion after the 1pm mark: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0255cvb

Foster May 2013

A Collection of images taken during May 2013 of Foster building prior to demolition here.   A few photos of how the Foster site looks today here. 

St Lawrence's Hospital Project

In February 2014, a research group of health professionals from Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and academics from Exeter University, Penryn Campus launched the Asylum Stories project, to collect stories and memories from former staff, patients and members of the community about St Lawrence’s Hospital. So far, nearly 20 people have had their spoken stories digitally recorded and these will be archived with Cornwall Audio Visual Archive (CAVA) within the University’s Institute of Cornish Studies (ICS). The group also want to encourage anyone who has been influenced by the hospital in any way to write down their stories which will also be collected together. These can be e-mailed, posted or dropped in to one of the community events which will be held in the forthcoming months. 

Anyone who has any artefacts or photographs relating to the old hospital, is also invited to attend a coffee morning at St Lawrence’s Community Church on Saturday 21st June between 10am and 12 midday. 

The project team will be there to photograph each item and hear the story it represents. The project has been funded by FEAST, which is managed by Cornwall Arts Centre Trust, and the Cornwall Councillor Community Grant Scheme. If you want to contribute your story then please contact: asylumstoriesbodmin@gmail.com or leave a message on 07443579046. Alternatively write your story down and send to Dr Jo Esra, Institute of Cornish Studies, College of Humanities, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn Cornwall, TR10 9EZ.

Photo Project

Louisa Rundle, a student at Plymouth College of Art, has requested some help from retired and ex-staff of St Lawrence's to help with a photo project she is involved with. I'll leave it to Louisa to explain:

I am a Third year BA photography student studying at Plymouth College of Art. I mostly photograph landscapes showing how man and time have changed it. I am doing a portraiture project to challenge myself and to show how the land has affected people around it and if it is still visible through talking to ex-workers of the recently demolished St Lawrence's hospital. 

The project will be called The Human Side of St Lawrence's Hospital. It is a personal project as I have photographed the space before when it was abandoned and I am interested in the history of it as I am from Truro. The final work will be shown in an exhibition with my class mates in June at Plymouth College of Art and then go on to the Truman Brewery in London.

The finished portraits will be printed A2 size with 4 or 5 on display depending on how many people I am able to photograph. The important part is that I won't be asking any personal questions or need any personal details as I only want to get peoples experiences of working in that kind of environment to challenge the stereotype that is associated with mental institutions.

If you are interested in having your photograph taken and sharing your experiences for this project, Louisa can be contacted by email here. 

Completion

With the foundations and underground service tunnels removed, the old Foster site is levelled with top soil and grass seed. Larger images here.

Sports Day

Sports Day held at St Lawrence's during the 1960s. An 8mm film courtesy of Lyn & Gerald Paul. Further information, images and video can be viewed here.

Foster Chimney

Video footage of the Foster chimney demolition courtesy of the Facebook St Lawrence's Hospital page. Further images can be accessed at the Facebook page here

Foster Obliterated

Apart from the boiler house and chimney stack, all of Foster's buildings have now been demolished. To date, the mortuary, works department, laundry and cobblers/seamstress buildings are still in situ but the rest is now just rubble. Larger images here.

Foster Wards and Corridors

An interesting collection of images taken inside and around Foster Block courtesy of the Facebook St Lawrence's Hospital page. Among this selection, views of Foster hall, the corridors, wards and departments. Further images can be accessed at the Facebook page here. Larger images here.

Finale

The last remnants of Foster building fall as the administration building, Loveny ward and the training school are pulled apart. Further images here.

Loveny

Loveny ward, the nurse education department, admin block and boiler house are now going through the demolition process. Larger images here.

Reduced to Rubble

Fowey and Luxulyan wards reduced to rubble. The last remaining ward, Loveny and Nurse Education Department next to go. Larger images here.

Demolition of Fowey & Luxulyan wards

Video footage of Fowey and Luxulyan being dismantled. The demolition of Fowey, Luxulyan, Loveny and Ruan wards, now in full swing. Further images here.

Foster

A wander around the Foster demolition site with final views of Fowey, Luxulyan, Loveny and Ruan wards as they stand today. Larger images here.