View image William A.F. Browne, who was Medical Superintendent at the Crichton between 1838 and 1857, wrote extensively about his practice and his views about appropriate treatments for psychiatry. Many of these ideas became influential through his publications, lectures and personal contacts. The Annual Reports of the Crichton Institution include another passage which offers a…
View image One of the most important innovations during the early years of the Crichton Institution was its introduction of concerts organised and performed by patients and staff. Performers were drawn from across the asylum, including several of the attendants (male nursing staff), as well as local musicians from Dumfries town. The first concert given…
🌳National Tree Week at The Crichton! It turns out that yes, there is such a thing as National Tree Week and we are celebrating it this week here at The Crichton. As part of our 100 year landscape plan, we are looking to plant more trees across our site and increase our biodiversity. Work is…
View image The Crichton Royal Institution supported a vibrant music life, including concerts, musical plays and, from the mid-nineteenth-century, a choir and band. Much of this activity is also recorded at lunatic asylums elsewhere in the UK, but the Crichton is unusual for its record, albeit brief and , of patient composition. This edition of…
View image What comes to mind when you think of the asylum? Is it the image of the large, isolated, gothic institution, dark and mysterious, surrounded by spiked gates and iron-clad windows? Or do you immediately think of straitjackets and chains, physical restraint and neglect? Acquiring a reputation for being ‘dustbins’ for the imprisonment of…