| Popis: |
From June to December 2017 Archaeology South-East (a division of the Centre for Applied Archaeology, UCL) carried out a programme of historic building recording at the former Harperbury Hospital, Radlett, Hertfordshire (centred on NGR 517234 201904; Fig. 1). The work was carried out to satisfy conditions placed on planning consent for the comprehensive redevelopment of part of the site for residential use, including the demolition of the existing buildings (planning ref. 5/2015/0990). The buildings were variously recorded to Historic England Level 2 or Level 3 (Historic England 2016), as agreed with the District Archaeologist at St Albans City and District Council. A heritage assessment by DPP LLP (2008) was previously produced for the site. The site contains 33 buildings, comprising the central and eastern parts of the hospital site, and includes structures original to the early 1930s asylum (known initially as Middlesex Colony), as well as later hospital buildings and additions. Despite later alterations and the loss of many of the original structures, the remaining buildings of the original Middlesex Colony at Harperbury Hospital provide an example of a large asylum, built in accordance with the principles of the colony system. The buildings serve as a physical illustration of the culmination of developments in asylum design during the later 19th and early 20th centuries. The buildings, and their subsequent alteration, reuse and later redundancy, also reflect attitudes towards mental illness and its treatment, as well reflecting wider social conventions. |
