Sussex Lunatic Asylum

Brighton & Hove Meeting Centre

In 1859 the first public asylum in Sussex opened amidst great publicity near Haywards Heath. Victorian mental health reformers believed in something revolutionary: that a well-run, progressive asylum could solve the increasing problem of “madness” in society.  

Inmates came from all over Sussex, and beyond.  If you are “missing” a Sussex relative in your family tree they may been an inmate of the Asylum.  James Gardner’s talk explores what happened to this aspiration and seeks to explain the demise of asylum treatment.