Swanbourne Hospital

Swanbourne Hospital is a heritage listed former mental hospital located in Mount Claremont, Western Australia. Built in 1904, it was the largest stand-alone psychiatric hospital in Western Australia for much of the twentieth century until its closure in September 1972. The hospital was originally known as Claremont Hospital for the Insane, Claremont Mental Hospital and Claremont Hospital. Following the closure of Claremont Hospital in 1972, the original 1904 section of the hospital functioned as the Swanbourne Hospital until 1985. The site has been vacant since 1986.The site contains buildings of significant heritage value, including Montgomery Hall, which used to be the second largest theatre venue in Perth.HistoryThe first institution in Western Australia to care for the mentally ill was the Fremantle Lunatic Asylum, which opened in 1865 with the transfer of ten convicts.In 1891, the colonial government began the process of designing a new facility to replace the Fremantle Lunatic Asylum, which was already becoming overcrowded. Colonial architect George Temple-Poole gave evidence to an 1891 Select Committee inquiry and strongly urged the construction of a new and much larger hospital in "an airy situation, as far from the town as convenient". Poole also favoured the "pavilion" system: discrete self-contained blocks connected by a corridor. Each "pavilion" was designed for a separate group of patients – quiet and industrious, violent and noisy, epileptic, sick and infirm, or convalescent.On 23 April 1895 the West Australian newspaper reported that the government had decided to build in what is now John Forrest National Park near Midland. However, at the end of 1895 the colonial government purchased the Point Walter site from Dr Alfred Waylen for £6000, and the West Australian confirmed on 4 March 1896 that Perth's new lunatic asylum "is practically settled, will be situated in a corner of the area of 200 acres at Point Walter".