Moorlands Hospital Archive

Photograph of hospital interior, c.1955; land and buildings records, comprising plans, 1955, and related papers, 1955-1964.

Moorlands, Haxby, near York, was originally a private house and estate. In 1940 it was purchased by the Retreat, and was used for women psychiatric patients between 1940 and 1955. In the latter year the house and grounds were sold to the Ministry of Health.
During the 1950s Clifton Hospital was very overcrowded and York B Group Hospital Management Committee, an organisational unit within the National Health Service, was looking for extra properties to extend psychiatric accommodation and facilities. Moorlands was handed over by Leeds Regional Hospital Board to York B Group as additional accommodation in January 1955. At the same time the surrounding woodlands were transferred to the Yorkshire Naturalists Trust (now the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust) as a nature reserve.
Moorlands was used after 1955 as a long stay women's annexe to Clifton Hospital, in the care of a Sister-in-Charge. The bed complement was around 45, although this fell to 38 in the early 1970s. The accommodation seems to have been in good order and little change was made under York B Group apart from some minor improvements and tidying of the surrounding garden. Much domestic work within the house was done by patients as part of their therapy.
Moorlands remained an annexe to Clifton Hospital until 1989 when as part of the general contraction of large scale psychiatric institutions it was closed and the building subsequently sold.

Records are open to the public, subject to the overriding provisions of relevant legislation, including data protection laws. 24 hours' notice is required to access photographic material.

The archive was deposited at the Borthwick Institute in 1995 as part of the transfer of York Health Archives to the Institute from their temporary home at Clifton Hospital.

Moorlands, Haxby, near York, was originally a private house and estate. In 1940 it was purchased by the Retreat, and was used for women psychiatric patients between 1940 and 1955. In the latter year the house and grounds were sold to the Ministry of Health.
During the 1950s Clifton Hospital was very overcrowded and York B Group Hospital Management Committee, an organisational unit within the National Health Service, was looking for extra properties to extend psychiatric accommodation and facilities. Moorlands was handed over by Leeds Regional Hospital Board to York B Group as additional accommodation in January 1955. At the same time the surrounding woodlands were transferred to the Yorkshire Naturalists Trust (now the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust) as a nature reserve.
Moorlands was used after 1955 as a long stay women's annexe to Clifton Hospital, in the care of a Sister-in-Charge. The bed complement was around 45, although this fell to 38 in the early 1970s. The accommodation seems to have been in good order and little change was made under York B Group apart from some minor improvements and tidying of the surrounding garden. Much domestic work within the house was done by patients as part of their therapy.
Moorlands remained an annexe to Clifton Hospital until 1989 when as part of the general contraction of large scale psychiatric institutions it was closed and the building subsequently sold.

A typescript finding aid, to file level, is available for consultation in the searchroom of the Borthwick Institute.

2015-07-28

A reprographics service is available to researchers subject to the access restrictions outlined above. Copying will not be undertaken if there is any risk of damage to the document. Copies are supplied in accordance with the Borthwick Institute for Archives' terms and conditions for the supply of copies, and under provisions of any relevant copyright legislation. Permission to reproduce images of documents in the custody of the Borthwick Institute must be sought.

Further accruals are not expected.

For related material held by the Borthwick Institute, see the archive of The Retreat which purchased Moorlands in the 1940s. Other related archives are those of York ‘B’ Group Hospital Management Committee and its successors, in particular its biennial reports, and Clifton Hospital, for which Moorlands served as an annexe.

Published

GB 193