Merrifield Children's Unit (also known as Merryfield or colloquially as Merrifields) was a residential children's and adolescents' psychiatric institution in the grounds of Tone Vale Hospital (an adult mental hospital) approximately 3 km (1.9 miles) north west of Norton Fitzwarren, near Taunton, Somerset, England, in what is now the village Cotford St Luke.[1]
| Merrifield Children's Unit | |
|---|---|
 View of the extended Merrifield Children's Unit, as officially opened in March 1976 | |
  Shown in Somerset | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Cotford St Luke, Somerset, England |
| Coordinates | 51°02′21″N 3°11′19″W / 51.0392°N 3.1886°W |
| Organisation | |
| Care system | NHS |
| Type | Psychiatric institution for children |
| Services | |
| History | |
| Opened | 1950s |
| Closed | 1995 |
| Links | |
| Lists | Hospitals in England |
History
editThe Merrifield Unit was established by psychiatrist Dr Martin Frank (known as 'Jim') Bethell (d. 1982)[2] as a regional unit for the treatment of young people.[3] By November 1961, it was catering for 36 'psychotic and maladjusted' children.[4] In the mid-1970s, the Merrifield buildings were upgraded, and a substantial new extension was opened in March 1976 by Sir Desmond Pond.[3]
The Unit served the whole of South West England, and for much of its existence its management was under the control of Dr Bethell and nursing officer Donald Mackey.[5] Other child psychiatry specialists associated with Merrifield included Dr Adriaan Bakker[6] and Dr Frank Bayley.[7] Of the Merrifield patients, one observer notes, "Some of the children, although highly disturbed, were extremely well read and educated."[5]
Tone Vale Hospital, Merrifield Unit's parent institution, was closed in 1995,[1] as was Merrifield itself.[8] The entire site is now occupied by the newly built village of Cotford St Luke.[9] Merrifield is succeeded by the Orchard Lodge Young People's Unit located in Cotford St Luke.[10]
References and allusions in literature
editIn her memoir, The Light in My Mind,[11] Joyce Passmore writes of being admitted to Merrifield in 1957 at the age of 13 suffering with epilepsy, prior to being transferred to the main adult hospital.[12] The novel Delivered Unto Lions[13] by David Austin is based on the experiences of a Merrifield patient in the 1970s.[8]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Tone Vale". County Asylums. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- ^ "Obituary". British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.). 284 (6316): 673–674. 1982. doi:10.1136/bmj.284.6316.673. PMC 1496215.
- ^ a b "Obituary". British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.). 284 (6326): 1416–1417. 1982. doi:10.1136/bmj.284.6326.1416. PMC 1498317.
- ^ "Psychotic and Maladjusted Children". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 29 November 1961. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- ^ a b Hinton, David, & Clarke, Fred. (Eds.). (1997). The Tone Vale story: a century of care. Bishop's Lydeard: Rocket Publishing. p. 43. ISBN 1-899995-05-6
- ^ "BJ Psych Bulletin" (PDF). University of Cambridge Press.
- ^ Elsevier Heath Sciences. (1976). The medical directory, 1976: general alphabetical list A - Mac & Mad - Z, Part 1. Oxford, UK: Churchill Livingstone. p. 156. ISBN 978-0-443-01440-6
- ^ a b "Tone Vale children's unit remembered in novel". This is The West Country. 8 November 2010. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- ^ "Cotford St Luke". The Exmoorian. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- ^ Farr, Hannah, & O’Herlihy, Anne. (Compilers). (2004, November). Child & adolescent mental health in-patients units in England, Scotland, Wales and Belfast: unit directory (2nd ed.). London: College Research Unit of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. p. 32.
- ^ Passmore, Joyce. (2010). The Light in My Mind. Yeovil, UK: Speak Up Somerset. ISBN 978-0-9549772-5-2
- ^ "My fight back to life after being tricked into hospital hell". Somerset Live. 10 September 2010. Archived from the original on 13 September 2010. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- ^ Austin, David. (2010). Delivered Unto Lions. Dooagh, Ireland: CheckPoint Press. ISBN 978-1-906628-21-5
External links
edit
Media related to Cotford St Luke at Wikimedia Commons, which shows some of the former hospital buildings
