VIII. ST LEONARD'S HOSPITAL
St Leonards is believed to be one of the largest medieval hospitals in the north of England. It was not just a place for the sick, but also a space to house orphans and the infirm, as well as providing food for the prisoners at York Castle. Little was known then about how disease spread, and there were numerous misconceptions surrounding different types of illnesses. For centuries, the mentally ill were treated as criminals to be caged, tortured and even displayed for public entertainment. However, public opinion began to change during the eighteenth century. The Archbishop of York requested that the York Lunatic Asylum, which was formally opened in 1777, should be created to prevent the mentally ill from being placed in unsuitable institutions like prisons. The Asylum was publicly owned and offered care to a wide range of patients and was meant to provide treat for the poor. However, Asylum management quickly began to defraud the public and patients alike and York’s Quaker community began to question the conditions. As a way of countering the diabolical treatment patients received at the York Lunatic Asylum, The Retreat was built by William Tuke in 1796. Tuke, a Quaker, founded the care facility on his spiritual ethos that all should be treated with both equality and kindness. The Retreat was revolutionary in both its physical and ethical design.
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