Sunnyside Hospital / Montrose Asylum, Scotland

Sunnyside Hospital / Montrose Asylum, Hillside, Scotland

A Scottish asylum with plenty of interesting features remaining, including original cells, a nice hall and plenty of featureful corridors.

Visited April 2016  UK Hillside, Montrose, Scotland, UK Disused

Sunnyside Royal Hospital, originally called the Montrose Asylum, was a psychiatric hospital located north of Montrose in Scotland.

Sunnyside was the second site for the local psychiatric hospital in Angus. The original Montrose Asylum, which was the first asylum in Scotland, was funded by public subscription established by local woman Susan Carnegie and opened in 1781. Expanding patient numbers led to the purchase of a new site in Hillside and the current hospital buildings opened in 1857.

Archive image of Sunnyside Hospital / Montrose Asylum when the building was in use
Archive image of Sunnyside Hospital / Montrose Asylum when the building was in use

The site was further developed with the construction of a new facility for private patients called Carnegie House in 1899. Despite this addition, overcrowding was a problem, as the asylum’s patient numbers had grown to 670 by 1900. Two new buildings – Howden Villa (1901) and Northesk Villa (1904) – were added. Additional staff were recruited and the Westmount Cottages were built in 1905 to house them. In 1911 the lease of Sunnyside Farm expired and over 52 acres were purchased for £4500. A further development was the addition of Angus House, which was built in 1939 to accommodate elderly patients suffering from dementia.

From the 1970s, advances in psychiatric care and greater community resources, including supported accommodation and the set up of three community mental health teams in the 1990s, led to reduced patient numbers and the closure of some of the buildings on the Sunnyside site.

Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose - One of the glass corridors
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose – One of the glass corridors
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose - Yellow ward upstairs
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose – Yellow ward upstairs
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose - Row of cell doors
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose – Row of cell doors
Sunnyside Hospital - Cell doors
Sunnyside Hospital – Cell doors
Sunnyside Hospital / Montrose Asylum, Hillside, Scotland
Sunnyside Hospital – Corridor of cells
 
Sunnyside Hospital - Doors through doorway
Sunnyside Hospital – Doors through doorway
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose - View down ward corridor
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose – View down ward corridor
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose - Peely paint in one of the cells
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose – Peely paint in one of the cells
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose - Ward with original cells
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose – Ward with original cells
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose - Curtains and fireplace on an old ward
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose – Curtains and fireplace on an old ward
Sunnyside Hospital - Inside a cell
Sunnyside Hospital – Inside a cell
 
Sunnyside Hospital - Entrance corridor
Sunnyside Hospital – Entrance corridor
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose - Main entrance hallway
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose – Main entrance hallway
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose - Curtains hanging inside a small open ward
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose – Curtains hanging inside a small open ward
Sunnyside Hospital - Curtains still hanging on another ward
Curtains still hanging on another ward
 
Sunnyside Hospital - Corridor
Sunnyside Hospital – Corridor
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose - Hydrotherapy bath
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose – Hydrotherapy bath
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose - Sluice room
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose – Sluice room
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose - Dining room
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose – Dining room
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose - Dining hall
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose – Dining hall
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose - The grand hall with stage at one side
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose – The grand hall with stage at one side
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose - View down the hall
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose – View down the hall
Sunnyside Hospital - Backdrop on the stage
Sunnyside Hospital – Backdrop on the stage
 
Sunnyside Hospital - Grand wooden-panelled room
Sunnyside – Grand wooden-panelled room
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose - Room by the hall
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose – Room by the hall
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose - Piano and sewing machines in an older part of the building
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose – Piano and sewing machines in an older part of the building
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose - Nature creeping in to a conservatory
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose – Nature creeping in to a conservatory
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose - View over the glass corridors and one of two rotundas
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose – View over the glass corridors and one of two rotundas
Sunnyside Hospital - Left half of a rotunda
Sunnyside Hospital – Left half of a rotunda
 
Sunnyside Hospital - Right half of a rotunda
Sunnyside Hospital – Right half of a rotunda
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose - Split view of glass walkway corridor
Sunnyside Asylum, Montrose – Split view of glass walkway corridor
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4 thoughts on Sunnyside Hospital / Montrose Asylum, Scotland

  1. Been going to montrose for years on holiday,and I have just discovered this lovely historic old place now l hear it’s to be demolished. Or turned into private homes. I have a fondness for sunny side and l hope to see it again this year before it goes . Hope I’m not to late

  2. We would take on sunny side hospital and make back to its former glory as a project that we could decorate it ourselves

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