Mental Health Museum

Mental Health Museum We're free-to-visit and open by appointment to the public on Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays 1-4pm Welcome to the Mental Health Museum!

The Mental Health Museum is a unique museum governed by the South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. We're home to a remarkable collection of objects that explore the history of mental health care over the last 200 years. Our Mission is:

• To promote understanding, empowerment and respect.

• To combat social inequality, prejudice, stigma and ignorance.

• To contribute towards breaking down the barriers to wellbeing. Our Statement of Purpose is to become a leading resource for:

• the history of mental health care

• debates surrounding contemporary mental health care and treatments

• life-long learning


For more information about the Mental Health Museum's mission, purpose, collection and what we aim to achieve please call us on 01924 316 360 or email museum@swyt.nhs.uk


The History of the Mental Health Museum

The Mental Health Museum is governed by the South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. The Museum sits at the heart of Fieldhead Hospital, a working hospital which provides a number of services including; therapy and psychology services, forensic services and learning disability assessment and treatment services. The Mental Health Museum used to be known as the Stephen G Beaumont Museum and focused specifically on the history and architecture of the West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum: Wakefield (later known as Stanley Royd Hospital). The Museum was originally opened in 1974 at the Stanley Royd Hospital site and was developed by Mr Lawrence Ashworth. Mr Ashworth was the Secretary to Stanley Royd Hospital from 1961 to 1973, and during this time took a keen interest in recording and researching the history of the Wakefield Asylum. Mr Ashworth’s account of the hospital’s history can be found in his book Stanley Royd Hospital Wakefield: One Hundred and Fifty years A History. After Mr Ashworth’s retirement in 1973, he officially became the Museum’s curator in 1979. The original museum was named after Mr Stephen G Beaumont who was appointed Chairman of the Wakefield ‘B’ Group in 1957 and remained in this position until 1964. Mr Beaumont and the committee agreed to fund the museum and its development. The Stephen G Beaumont Museum remained on the Stanley Royd Hospital site until 1995 when the hospital was decommissioned, and moved to its current location on the Fieldhead Hospital site. Since the museum’s opening in 1974, the Museum has been in the care of Mr Lawrence Ashworth, Mr J Markwell and Mr Michael McCarthy. Some of the key additions introduced by these keepers include; a scale model of the original ‘H’ design Asylum building, the transcription of the Reverend T.B. Clarkson’s Chaplain’s journal and the re-discovered and adapted garden statue of the goddess Flora. In 2011 the Trust’s Change Lab initiative identified that the museum had great potential to do more than showcase the collection. The Change Lab working group, consisting of services users and carers supported by Trust staff, identified that the Museum could be used to break down barriers, reduce stigma and discrimination in our society. It was recognised that with creativity, professional museum support and the on-going collaboration with service users, carers, staff and the community, the museum would develop into the Mental Health Museum. The Mental Health Museum opened to the public on 13th May 2014. The Museum is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 1-4pm and is free to visit. We also welcome visits from large groups and educational tours on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, 10am-12pm. For more information about our services and ways you can get involved please call us on 01924 316360 or email museum@swyt.nhs.uk. We hope to see you at the Museum soon!

We've had a last minute cancellation so the Museum will be open tomorrow afternoon. We're free to visit and there's sti...
05/11/2025

We've had a last minute cancellation so the Museum will be open tomorrow afternoon. We're free to visit and there's still lots of frog-themed-fun to be had with our activities! Come and see us 1-4 pm.

The Museum is closed this week, we're sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. We'll reopen on Tuesday 11th Novembe...
04/11/2025

The Museum is closed this week, we're sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. We'll reopen on Tuesday 11th November at 1pm. We hope to see you then.

A reminder the Museum will be closed this week. Our normal opening times resume from Tuesday 11th November at 1pm. We ...
01/11/2025

A reminder the Museum will be closed this week. Our normal opening times resume from Tuesday 11th November at 1pm. We hope to see you then!

Last week we were thrilled to host Wakefield Soroptimists for a visit to the Museum. We gave them a tour of the exhibit...
30/10/2025

Last week we were thrilled to host Wakefield Soroptimists for a visit to the Museum. We gave them a tour of the exhibition then had an object handling session which focused on the female experience in the old county hospitals. Thanks so much for coming to see us everyone!

We were also joined by Research & Development SWYT's Nicola who let people know about , a project that plans to publish poetry about loss and bereavement. If anyone would like to submit a poem to the Hope Collective project more information can be found in the photograph below.

OPENING TIMES INFO: We're open this week as usual but we'll be closed next week Tuesday 4th-Thursday 6th November. If y...
29/10/2025

OPENING TIMES INFO: We're open this week as usual but we'll be closed next week Tuesday 4th-Thursday 6th November.

If you want to come and see us this week we're open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 1-4pm.

Today we joined our Creative Minds colleagues at South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Poplars unit in H...
28/10/2025

Today we joined our Creative Minds colleagues at South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Poplars unit in Hemsworth. We brought objects from our Talking Treasures reminiscence collection to get people talking about their memories. Much of today's conversation was about bonfire night and the tasty food people have enjoyed over the years.

If you know a group who would like to take a trip down memory lane our Talking Treasures reminiscence sessions are available on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Call 01924 316360 or email museum@swyt.nhs.uk for more info.

If you're looking for some free frog-themed fun (try saying that quickly!) then come and get involved with Frog Fest th...
28/10/2025

If you're looking for some free frog-themed fun (try saying that quickly!) then come and get involved with Frog Fest this ! Our activities are free and we're open to everyone. Come along and find out more on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 1-4pm.

Happy half term! If you're looking for something a little different this half term come along and discover more at the ...
25/10/2025

Happy half term! If you're looking for something a little different this half term come along and discover more at the Mental Health Museum. We're open to everyone and free to visit on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 1-4pm.

Call 01924 316360 or email museum@swyt.nhs.uk to find out more.

Come and see .cunningham's internationally renowned exhibition, 'Am I Abnormal?', on now at the Mental Health Museum...
23/10/2025

Come and see .cunningham's internationally renowned exhibition, 'Am I Abnormal?', on now at the Mental Health Museum. Darryl's exhibition takes a compassionate look into the world of mental illness and challenges the myths and fears that can lead to stigma for people experiencing mental health conditions. 'Am I Abnormal?' is on now until the end of December 2025.

We're free to visit and open to everyone. Call 01924 316360 or email museum@swyt.nhs.uk to plan your visit.

We really enjoyed hosting people from The Jackson Hope Foundation at the Museum last week - it was so lovely for us to s...
14/10/2025

We really enjoyed hosting people from The Jackson Hope Foundation at the Museum last week - it was so lovely for us to see people engage with our collection listen to all the interesting conversations that followed. Thanks so much for coming to see us!

If you know a group who would like to visit we would love to hear from them! Call 01924 316360 or email museum@swyt.nhs.uk to find out more.

As we mark World Mental Health Day, a couple of our amazing facilitators took the opportunity to visit the Mental Health Museum, where they enjoyed an incredible tour of both the museum and parts of the active hospital. 🧠✨

It was a truly insightful experience — exploring how far mental health care has come and reflecting on why continued awareness and compassion are so important.

We’d highly recommend a visit if you get the chance — it’s a powerful reminder of the progress we’ve made and the work still to do. 💛

We may not be open today but rest assured mental health is our priority each and every day. Come and explore the histor...
10/10/2025

We may not be open today but rest assured mental health is our priority each and every day.

Come and explore the history of mental health care and the experience of mental health conditions over the last 200 years. We're free to visit and open to everyone on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 1-4pm. Call 01924 316360 or email museum@swyt.nhs.uk to find out more.

Address

Fieldhead Hospital, Ouchthorpe Lane
Wakefield
WF13SP

Opening Hours

Tuesday 1pm - 4pm
Wednesday 1pm - 4pm
Thursday 1pm - 4pm

Telephone

+441924316360

Website

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