Hortham Idiot Colony/Hospital, A brief History.

[funkymonkey]

only just found this, wow!

thank for sharing this McS, and yeah, no worries with using my pic.

Just a shame its all gone now. Went along the other day to have a look at the new boxes......... and no reference except in name to the hospital.

another piece of bristols history gone forever, in the face of 'progress'

 

[mcspringzy]

Well,




Dont say theres nothing left!



Because, if you know the area, there are a few tiny weeny buildings left, out the very back corner, just off of the lane running along side "hortham"

I believe they were farm type buildings with a bungalow, they seem to have been forgotten about to the devlopers.

 

[krela]

Well,




Dont say theres nothing left!



Because, if you know the area, there are a few tiny weeny buildings left, out the very back corner, just off of the lane running along side "hortham"

I believe they were farm type buildings with a bungalow, they seem to have been forgotten about to the devlopers.

Strange, they were inhabited shortly before the developers moved in.

Hortham is being built in phases mind, so it could be that they're part of a future development?

 

[Flaxington]

Strange, they were inhabited shortly before the developers moved in.

Hortham is being built in phases mind, so it could be that they're part of a future development?

they may have been a rehab unit for patients moving back into the community

 

[krela]

they may have been a rehab unit for patients moving back into the community

At one point yeah, but they weren't when I saw them inhabited.

 

[Flaxington]

At one point yeah, but they weren't when I saw them inhabited.

maybe staff houses?

 

[funkymonkey]

May well have been staff houses, although most of those were towards the north of the site.

Last time i checked the bottom corner looked like a pikey breakers yard. will have to pop down and a have a look. Will also try and get some pics of the new development. It'll break your hearts!

 

[OSPA]

They wouldn't get away with calling it an idiot colony it todays pc society! Great pics though mate!

 

[BigLoada]

Interesting to see the contrast between the old and new photos. Also, I find it fascinating that the word Idiot had a different meaning back then, or rather was used in that way. I was looking at my old 19th century map of Morpeth town in Northumberland and St Georges hospital was labelled Lunatic Asylum. I find it interesting how the useage of words change in that we'd never get away with saying lunatic asylum now but back then it was just the normal everyday language.

Sorry for rambling, blame the MceWans Export...great photos and explore mate

 

[Pete]

Another rant about 'Idiot Colony'

They wouldn't get away with calling it an idiot colony it todays pc society!

Ok, i was trying to stop myself commenting on the whole 'idiot colony' thing again, but the above post made it impossible for me to resist!

Despite researching the subject in considerable depth i have NEVER found any primary evidence to substantiate that the term 'Idiot colony' was used officially in the UK for Hortham or other institutions.

Firstly, the Idiot is anachronistic. The term 'idiot' as with imbecile or feeble-minded were terms used medically to denote differing grades of learning disabilities, but (with the exception of feeble-minded) by 1900 had become largely moribund in such use in favour of mental deficiency grading. This was set in statute by the mental deficiency act 1913 after which time the terms idiot and imbecile were wholly superceded in law. Given that the vast majority of colonies were developed from the late 1920's onward it is implausable that what was seen as a modern concept would saddle itself with such an archaic term. It didn't - in every case found so far, such colonies were named on of the following:
'colony for the mentally defective'
'mental deficiency colony'
'industrial colony'
'farm colony'
or simply just 'colony'
otherwise they could be known as certified instutuions
Even the earliest colonies developed before WWI at Sandlebridge, Great Barr, Prudhoe and Monyhull appear to give no reference to the term 'Idiot Colony' in contemporary documentation.

Secondly, even if it were still in use the term 'Idiot' largely inaccurate for the colonies. All (bar a handful of certified institutions) were occupied solely or predominantly by high or middle grade defectives. Idiots were classed as low grade defectives and required substatial or total care from others, usually staff or higher grade colonists.Where low grade villas existed they formed a small proportion of the total population. To maintain an colony predominantly of 'Idiots' would defeat the whole concept of self sufficiency with which such institutions were built.

In answer to the above quote, i believe it is, ironically todays pc society that has manufactured the term and applied it in a fake-historical sense. The fact that it is seemingly understood to be accurate and is continuing to proliferate through the internet is what infuriates me (perhaps unnecessarily!), and is why i keep writing posts like this. That said, if anyone can find an original source of evidence for the term idiot colony i will shut my trap!

Pete

 

[BigLoada]

Ok, i was trying to stop myself commenting on the whole 'idiot colony' thing again, but the above post made it impossible for me to resist!

Despite researching the subject in considerable depth i have NEVER found any primary evidence to substantiate that the term 'Idiot colony' was used officially in the UK for Hortham or other institutions.

Firstly, the Idiot is anachronistic. The term 'idiot' as with imbecile or feeble-minded were terms used medically to denote differing grades of learning disabilities, but (with the exception of feeble-minded) by 1900 had become largely moribund in such use in favour of mental deficiency grading. This was set in statute by the mental deficiency act 1913 after which time the terms idiot and imbecile were wholly superceded in law. Given that the vast majority of colonies were developed from the late 1920's onward it is implausable that what was seen as a modern concept would saddle itself with such an archaic term. It didn't - in every case found so far, such colonies were named on of the following:
'colony for the mentally defective'
'mental deficiency colony'
'industrial colony'
'farm colony'
or simply just 'colony'
otherwise they could be known as certified instutuions
Even the earliest colonies developed before WWI at Sandlebridge, Great Barr, Prudhoe and Monyhull appear to give no reference to the term 'Idiot Colony' in contemporary documentation.

Secondly, even if it were still in use the term 'Idiot' largely inaccurate for the colonies. All (bar a handful of certified institutions) were occupied solely or predominantly by high or middle grade defectives. Idiots were classed as low grade defectives and required substatial or total care from others, usually staff or higher grade colonists.Where low grade villas existed they formed a small proportion of the total population. To maintain an colony predominantly of 'Idiots' would defeat the whole concept of self sufficiency with which such institutions were built.

In answer to the above quote, i believe it is, ironically todays pc society that has manufactured the term and applied it in a fake-historical sense. The fact that it is seemingly understood to be accurate and is continuing to proliferate through the internet is what infuriates me (perhaps unnecessarily!), and is why i keep writing posts like this. That said, if anyone can find an original source of evidence for the term idiot colony i will shut my trap!

Pete

Thanks Pete. Although I have no interest inexploring hospitals/asylums, I do have a very keen interest in mental health issues and was very interested to read what you have said.

 

[OSPA]

Ok, i was trying to stop myself commenting on the whole 'idiot colony' thing again, but the above post made it impossible for me to resist!

Despite researching the subject in considerable depth i have NEVER found any primary evidence to substantiate that the term 'Idiot colony' was used officially in the UK for Hortham or other institutions.

Firstly, the Idiot is anachronistic. The term 'idiot' as with imbecile or feeble-minded were terms used medically to denote differing grades of learning disabilities, but (with the exception of feeble-minded) by 1900 had become largely moribund in such use in favour of mental deficiency grading. This was set in statute by the mental deficiency act 1913 after which time the terms idiot and imbecile were wholly superceded in law. Given that the vast majority of colonies were developed from the late 1920's onward it is implausable that what was seen as a modern concept would saddle itself with such an archaic term. It didn't - in every case found so far, such colonies were named on of the following:
'colony for the mentally defective'
'mental deficiency colony'
'industrial colony'
'farm colony'
or simply just 'colony'
otherwise they could be known as certified instutuions
Even the earliest colonies developed before WWI at Sandlebridge, Great Barr, Prudhoe and Monyhull appear to give no reference to the term 'Idiot Colony' in contemporary documentation.

Secondly, even if it were still in use the term 'Idiot' largely inaccurate for the colonies. All (bar a handful of certified institutions) were occupied solely or predominantly by high or middle grade defectives. Idiots were classed as low grade defectives and required substatial or total care from others, usually staff or higher grade colonists.Where low grade villas existed they formed a small proportion of the total population. To maintain an colony predominantly of 'Idiots' would defeat the whole concept of self sufficiency with which such institutions were built.

In answer to the above quote, i believe it is, ironically todays pc society that has manufactured the term and applied it in a fake-historical sense. The fact that it is seemingly understood to be accurate and is continuing to proliferate through the internet is what infuriates me (perhaps unnecessarily!), and is why i keep writing posts like this. That said, if anyone can find an original source of evidence for the term idiot colony i will shut my trap!

Pete

Very fair point Pete, its obviously something you know a lot about. Although, I think what I was trying to say was that it was a derogatory term.

 

[mcspringzy]

In all honesty, I cant actually remember if I've seen it written anywhere.


When I first found out about Hortham, I found it on nobodythere.co.uk and they had listed it as Hospital.

All the Documents, though they are from later sources, use Hortham Hospital.



Cheers Pete for that info though, very interesting.

 

[bnaden]

Hortham, was the first institution to be functionally designed and built as a complete Colony, and designed to care for just over 600 patients.

Under the Mental Health Act 1913 Section 38, Bristol City Council decided to acquire land and build an institution for the care of the mentally handicapped which was to become Hortham Idiot Colony

The search for a suitable site took a while, because of WW1 going on.
In 1924, after a long review of various land plots, a 126 acre site was choosen. It was purchased for the some of £4,788 and was essentially agricultural land.

During construction, various roman artifacts were found, some of which are displayed in Bristol City Museum

The architects were W.S Skinner and sons, and the main contractor H.Bell and sons. Work started on 14th May 1929 to the total cost of £215,000. The contracter completed the work by May 1931, and the Colony was handed over to the Bristol Corporation, where the furnishing and equipping of the buildings then followed. Six months later, the first patients were admited.

April 29th 1933, Hortham officially opened its doors.

Hortham has been commonly misconcepted as a "Mental Institute for Children", it had patients off all ages, included the famous MurdererJohn Straffen (Britains longest serving prisoner).



Hortham finally scaled down its work in 1988 and finally closed its doors in late 1991. Since then was left derelict, during the 90's it was the playground of Travellers for a few years, till they had stolen everything of any value there, cut bake and left. And from then on fell pray to vandals and arsonists. Since 1998 various planning applications were submitted but all were denied, for what reason is unknown. But in 2005 one from Barret / Taylor Woodrow was submitted after all they did own the land. They won, which suprised everyone as nearly all of the local residents to Hortham Hospital objected. And in 2006, demolition work started courtesy of Bath Demolition, during which, they "accidentally" cut down various trees with Tree Preservation orders on. But work was slowed down because they discovered Slow Worms and Bats nesting. They also discovered Asbestos which heeded there attemps abit. By the end of 2006, all buildings were reportedly gone. Crappy over priced houses have since been built on the "foundations" of the former hospital.
Anyway, heres the pictures.


Then & Now

View attachment 4287
Aerial view from the late 30's.

View attachment 4288
A fairly recent "birds eye view" from maps.live.com

View attachment 4289
A picture of Admin taking around 1931 after work completed.

View attachment 4290
Admin 2006 Picture is Funkymonkeys, hope you dont mind me borrowing it

View attachment 4291
Some females playing Netball

View attachment 4292
A near enough shot, you get the idea

View attachment 4293
Another simalar shot.

(I didnt want to use to many of other peoples pictures, plus, I lost hundreds of original exploration pictures because of a poor harddrive)

View attachment 4294
A wards day room

View attachment 4295
Not quite the same, but you get the idea.

View attachment 4296
Front gates, during its opening.



View attachment 4297
A shot from the right of the gates, 2006. (Please excuse the gray bit at the bottom, thats what damage the broken harddrive did)

View attachment 4298
Main Hall, 1930.

View attachment 4299
Main Hall, feb 2006.

Thats it really as far as my pictures go, I really dont have many left. Ill put a few more of Hortham in its old days up.

View attachment 4300
Patients doing Laundry


View attachment 4301
One of the medical hut things built during WW2

View attachment 4302 One last of the older shots, this is the Hortham Cricket team outside there cricket hut thing.

View attachment 4303
Cricket hut more recently.


Well, I've been typing, resizing, searching and moving for the last twos hours for this Have fun, mcspringzy.

All of the older images were used courtesy of Glenside Museum. The rest are my own unless otherwise stated.

Hi McSpringzy,
I wondered whether you still had any photos of Hortham Colony? Most of the pictures in your article have vanished, sadly. I think my grandma might have worked there in the 30s, and I have a couple of photographs of her with what looks like the inmates and staff.

Would love to find out more about the place!

 

[Sam Haltin]

That's the problem when you view older posts which have missing photographs. People who post their images in the past used Photobucket but Photobucket decided to start charging high prices to store pictures on their website, and in most cases users were not told about this by Photobucket and their pictures were removed.

I did a little search in the interwebby and found this site with some photos, but it looks to me that it's been demolished.
https://www.uer.ca/locations/viewgal.asp?picid=154453
This site has 8 photographs
https://www.higgypop.com/urbex/hortham-hospital/#
That's all I could find.

 

[Hayman]

Another rant about 'Idiot Colony'



Ok, i was trying to stop myself commenting on the whole 'idiot colony' thing again, but the above post made it impossible for me to resist!

Despite researching the subject in considerable depth i have NEVER found any primary evidence to substantiate that the term 'Idiot colony' was used officially in the UK for Hortham or other institutions.

Firstly, the Idiot is anachronistic. The term 'idiot' as with imbecile or feeble-minded were terms used medically to denote differing grades of learning disabilities, but (with the exception of feeble-minded) by 1900 had become largely moribund in such use in favour of mental deficiency grading. This was set in statute by the mental deficiency act 1913 after which time the terms idiot and imbecile were wholly superceded in law. Given that the vast majority of colonies were developed from the late 1920's onward it is implausable that what was seen as a modern concept would saddle itself with such an archaic term. It didn't - in every case found so far, such colonies were named on of the following:
'colony for the mentally defective'
'mental deficiency colony'
'industrial colony'
'farm colony'
or simply just 'colony'
otherwise they could be known as certified instutuions
Even the earliest colonies developed before WWI at Sandlebridge, Great Barr, Prudhoe and Monyhull appear to give no reference to the term 'Idiot Colony' in contemporary documentation.

Secondly, even if it were still in use the term 'Idiot' largely inaccurate for the colonies. All (bar a handful of certified institutions) were occupied solely or predominantly by high or middle grade defectives. Idiots were classed as low grade defectives and required substatial or total care from others, usually staff or higher grade colonists.Where low grade villas existed they formed a small proportion of the total population. To maintain an colony predominantly of 'Idiots' would defeat the whole concept of self sufficiency with which such institutions were built.

In answer to the above quote, i believe it is, ironically todays pc society that has manufactured the term and applied it in a fake-historical sense. The fact that it is seemingly understood to be accurate and is continuing to proliferate through the internet is what infuriates me (perhaps unnecessarily!), and is why i keep writing posts like this. That said, if anyone can find an original source of evidence for the term idiot colony i will shut my trap!

Pete

A certain minority has given itself the job of deciding which words may be used by
the rest of some eight billion people on Earth. Every day this minority finds something bad about yet another word, and wants it banned from use. I see today that the University of Southern California has banned the term 'Field of Study' - for the apparent reason that the word 'field' is racist. It has replaced it with the word 'practicum', seemingly a cod-Latin word invented by academics who have forgotten that native users of Latin once had one of the biggest empires in the world, and were colonisers par excellence. By this minority's thinking, all Latin-derived words should be banned for that reason alone.

As for terms for mentally subnormal people, of course they have changed over the centuries. Previously they were a lot more factual than the current 'people with special needs'. Einstein - with his extraordinary mind - surely had 'special needs', as did Mozart. Not all 'special needs' are for subnormal people; supernormal people have them too.

It was said that, in Victorian Britain, piano legs were covered up because somehow they were indecent. This started as a joke against prudish 'stuck-up Americans', but
has been taken as fact. To me, idiot, imbecile, moron, lunatic have the same common parlance meanings. That no record of idiot being used officially has been found does not mean it did not exist. In 2009 a play with the title "The Idiot Colony" was put on by the Red Cape Theatre at Bridport Arts Centre. It is "Based on real life accounts of the treatment and incarceration of 'moral defectives' in 1940's England".
Note the term 'moral defectives', not 'mental defectives'.

Another rant about 'Idiot Colony'



Ok, i was trying to stop myself commenting on the whole 'idiot colony' thing again, but the above post made it impossible for me to resist!

Despite researching the subject in considerable depth i have NEVER found any primary evidence to substantiate that the term 'Idiot colony' was used officially in the UK for Hortham or other institutions.

Firstly, the Idiot is anachronistic. The term 'idiot' as with imbecile or feeble-minded were terms used medically to denote differing grades of learning disabilities, but (with the exception of feeble-minded) by 1900 had become largely moribund in such use in favour of mental deficiency grading. This was set in statute by the mental deficiency act 1913 after which time the terms idiot and imbecile were wholly superceded in law. Given that the vast majority of colonies were developed from the late 1920's onward it is implausable that what was seen as a modern concept would saddle itself with such an archaic term. It didn't - in every case found so far, such colonies were named on of the following:
'colony for the mentally defective'
'mental deficiency colony'
'industrial colony'
'farm colony'
or simply just 'colony'
otherwise they could be known as certified instutuions
Even the earliest colonies developed before WWI at Sandlebridge, Great Barr, Prudhoe and Monyhull appear to give no reference to the term 'Idiot Colony' in contemporary documentation.

Secondly, even if it were still in use the term 'Idiot' largely inaccurate for the colonies. All (bar a handful of certified institutions) were occupied solely or predominantly by high or middle grade defectives. Idiots were classed as low grade defectives and required substatial or total care from others, usually staff or higher grade colonists.Where low grade villas existed they formed a small proportion of the total population. To maintain an colony predominantly of 'Idiots' would defeat the whole concept of self sufficiency with which such institutions were built.

In answer to the above quote, i believe it is, ironically todays pc society that has manufactured the term and applied it in a fake-historical sense. The fact that it is seemingly understood to be accurate and is continuing to proliferate through the internet is what infuriates me (perhaps unnecessarily!), and is why i keep writing posts like this. That said, if anyone can find an original source of evidence for the term idiot colony i will shut my trap!

Pete

 

[Foxylady]

A certain minority has given itself the job of deciding which words may be used by
the rest of some eight billion people on Earth. Every day this minority finds something bad about yet another word, and wants it banned from use.

Absolutely agree. Personally, I refuse to kowtow to this insane dictatorship. I just don't get what can possibly be racist about the word field. What on earth are farmers supposed to call their 'fields' now then? And as for a field of study, it's just another way of saying 'body of work', but I suppose someone somewhere will complain about the word 'body'. Some people just love to find something to moan about and the best thing to do is to ignore them and their miserable ways.

 

[BikinGlynn]

A certain minority has given itself the job of deciding which words may be used by
the rest of some eight billion people on Earth. Every day this minority finds something bad about yet another word, and wants it banned from use. I see today that the University of Southern California has banned the term 'Field of Study' - for the apparent reason that the word 'field' is racist. It has replaced it with the word 'practicum', seemingly a cod-Latin word invented by academics who have forgotten that native users of Latin once had one of the biggest empires in the world, and were colonisers par excellence. By this minority's thinking, all Latin-derived words should be banned for that reason alone.

As for terms for mentally subnormal people, of course they have changed over the centuries. Previously they were a lot more factual than the current 'people with special needs'. Einstein - with his extraordinary mind - surely had 'special needs', as did Mozart. Not all 'special needs' are for subnormal people; supernormal people have them too.

It was said that, in Victorian Britain, piano legs were covered up because somehow they were indecent. This started as a joke against prudish 'stuck-up Americans', but
has been taken as fact. To me, idiot, imbecile, moron, lunatic have the same common parlance meanings. That no record of idiot being used officially has been found does not mean it did not exist. In 2009 a play with the title "The Idiot Colony" was put on by the Red Cape Theatre at Bridport Arts Centre. It is "Based on real life accounts of the treatment and incarceration of 'moral defectives' in 1940's England".
Note the term 'moral defectives', not 'mental defectives'.

thats just fkin madness!

 

[night crawler]

They called them Lunatic Asylums and the word is still over the door at Fair Mile but no one takes any notice now

 

[john1975]

Another rant about 'Idiot Colony'



Ok, i was trying to stop myself commenting on the whole 'idiot colony' thing again, but the above post made it impossible for me to resist!

Despite researching the subject in considerable depth i have NEVER found any primary evidence to substantiate that the term 'Idiot colony' was used officially in the UK for Hortham or other institutions.

Firstly, the Idiot is anachronistic. The term 'idiot' as with imbecile or feeble-minded were terms used medically to denote differing grades of learning disabilities, but (with the exception of feeble-minded) by 1900 had become largely moribund in such use in favour of mental deficiency grading. This was set in statute by the mental deficiency act 1913 after which time the terms idiot and imbecile were wholly superceded in law. Given that the vast majority of colonies were developed from the late 1920's onward it is implausable that what was seen as a modern concept would saddle itself with such an archaic term. It didn't - in every case found so far, such colonies were named on of the following:
'colony for the mentally defective'
'mental deficiency colony'
'industrial colony'
'farm colony'
or simply just 'colony'
otherwise they could be known as certified instutuions
Even the earliest colonies developed before WWI at Sandlebridge, Great Barr, Prudhoe and Monyhull appear to give no reference to the term 'Idiot Colony' in contemporary documentation.

Secondly, even if it were still in use the term 'Idiot' largely inaccurate for the colonies. All (bar a handful of certified institutions) were occupied solely or predominantly by high or middle grade defectives. Idiots were classed as low grade defectives and required substatial or total care from others, usually staff or higher grade colonists.Where low grade villas existed they formed a small proportion of the total population. To maintain an colony predominantly of 'Idiots' would defeat the whole concept of self sufficiency with which such institutions were built.

In answer to the above quote, i believe it is, ironically todays pc society that has manufactured the term and applied it in a fake-historical sense. The fact that it is seemingly understood to be accurate and is continuing to proliferate through the internet is what infuriates me (perhaps unnecessarily!), and is why i keep writing posts like this. That said, if anyone can find an original source of evidence for the term idiot colony i will shut my trap!

Pete

As you say, they were the medical terms of the day. In law they were defined as;

Every person whose mind from his birth by a perpetual infirmity is so deficient as to be incapable of directing him in any matter which requires
thought or judgement, is in legal phraseology an idiot;

Every person qui gaudet lucidis intervallis, and who sometimes is of good and sound memory, and sometimes non compos mentis, is in legal phraseology a lunatic;

Every person who, by reason of a morbid condition of intellect is incapable of managing himself and his affairs, not being an idiot or lunatic, or a person merely of weak mind, is in legal phraseology a person of unsound mind.

No mention of imbecile though, but they were part way between feeble minded and and idiot...


john..