Royal Park Hospital

Royal Park Psychiatric Hospital, commonly known as Royal Park is a former Receiving House and Psychiatric Hospital located in Parkville. Operating for over 90 years, Royal Park Hospital was the first psychiatric hospital established in Victoria after the Lunacy Act of 1903, and was intended for patients with curable disorders. Built on the north-western edge of the 181 hectare parklands known as Royal Park, Royal Park Hospital along with Royal Melbourne Hospital, Royal Children's Hospital and Mount Royal formed the Parkville Hospital Precinct. Following the hospital's closure in the 1990s, several of the hospital's original buildings have been listed on the Victorian Heritage Register for their historic and architectural values.Construction and designThe hospital buildings were designed by architect SE Bindley of the Public Works Department in a Queen Anne style. Constructed between 1906 and 1913, the buildings were mostly made of red brick and were surrounded by verandahs. Separate buildings were made for males and females, and for acute and convalescent patients.HistoryRoyal Park opened as a Receiving House in September 1907. Receiving Houses were used to provide accommodation for those patients who required only short term diagnosis and treatment. No person was to be detained in a receiving house for more than two months in any event. Patients diagnosed as insane were transferred to a Hospital for the Insane such as Kew Asylum or Yarra Bend Asylum by order of the Superintendent of the Receiving House. Following the completion of some of the hospital wards, Royal Park was gazetted as a Receiving House and a Hospital for the Insane on 7 April 1909.