Description

Early 20th century. Single storey, octagonal, rustic timber summerhouse with red tiled finialled pavilion roof. Decorative timber valance. Groups of 3 rectangular window openings with raised margins to 6 sides; windows separated by full-height timbers. Boarded timber entrance door to E with finialled gable above.

Red roof tiles. Diamond glazing pattern still in evidence; windows boarded to exterior.

INTERIOR: (not seen 2012). Believed to be timber lined (information from NHS Tayside staff, 2012).

Statement of Interest

B-Group includes Sunnyside Main Building, Hospital Building, North Esk Villa, Garage and Former Fire Station, Booth House Former Nurses' Home, Carnegie House, Water Tank and Former Workshops, Summerhouse, Away Team Cricket Pavilion and Home Team Cricket Pavilion.

This is a fine surviving example of a decorative timber summerhouse, set near to the gardens of the hospital and forming a significant part of the wider Sunnyside complex. Sunnyside Asylum developed in the 19th century as a replacement for the first lunatic asylum in Scotland at Montrose. The hospital consists of a related group of buildings, informally set in a semi-parkland setting on a hillside overlooking Montrose. The site is significant in remaining largely intact and retaining the integrity of a self-contained psychiatric hospital.

The summerhouse was built mainly for the use of the private patients, who were accommodated at the nearby Carnegie House (see separate listing). Built in a rustic style, typical of summerhouses found at country estates, it promoted the philosophy that the patients would benefit from a pleasant, country house environment.

Sunnyside Hospital opened in 1857 and was constructed to replace the former Montrose Lunatic Asylum, established in Montrose in 1781. This was the first hospital in Scotland to care for the mentally ill and was founded by Susan Carnegie, who hoped that if the patients were given good treatment and medical aid, they may be able to return to society. The marble tablet from the opening of this original building is situated in the current asylum. In 1855, the Scottish Lunacy Commission was appointed and condemned the Montrose building as being unsuitable. It was agreed to build a new asylum and a site to the north of Montrose, at Sunnyside Farm was chosen. The architect William Lambie Moffat, who was working in Doncaster, designed this new building (see separate listing). Originally the building formed a double courtyard plan, but as the numbers of patients increased, the building was extended to the rear in 1877 with the addition of a new recreation hall, dining room and kitchen.

Sunnyside Hospital continued to develop during the latter part of the 19th century and the early 20th century, as patients continued to increase in numbers. A hospital building was added in 1888 (see separate listing) to care for patients who had both medical and psychiatric conditions. Carnegie House (see separate listing) was constructed in 1896 to provide accommodation for private patients. This was set slightly apart from the main building to the north and the patients had their own garden for recreational use. Other buildings were gradually added to the site, including three villas, workshops and a chapel. The gradual development of the site is important in demonstrating the change in ideas over the century in the care of the mentally ill. When the lease of Sunnyside farm expired in 1911 another 52 further acres were purchased for the use of the community. Over the course of the 20th century, the patients and staff became involved in a number of activities within the complex including gardening and farming. A separate nurses' home was built in the 1930s (see separate listing).

The site ceased to be used as a hospital in 2012.

Listed following a review of the former Sunnyside Hospital site, (2012-13).

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77782372

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)