The Retreat: Tours of historic York mental asylum to be held ahead of conversion into housing

Visitors will be able to look around the grounds of York's former mental asylum The Retreat during a series of tours before the site is redeveloped.
Grace Newton
By Grace Newton
Published 19th Jun 2022, 06:00 GMT

The Retreat was a progressive hospital opened in 1796 by the Quaker movement, as an alternative to the inhumane treatments offered by conventional lunatic aslyums such as York's, which later became Bootham Park Hospital.

It closed to in-patients in 2018 and heritage property developers P J Livesey have permission to convert the site on Heslington Road for residential use.

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Free tours will be held on June 25 to allow the public to look around before building work begins.

The estate from aboveThe estate from above
The estate from above

The Grade II-listed buildings are set in 13 acres of grounds, much of which have never been accessible before.

The tour will be hosted by landscape architects Randall Thorp, who will discuss the Heslington Road estate's changes of use over time - beginning as a turnip farm before becoming formal gardens and an orchard.

The grounds were integral to the hospital's ethos, as founder William Tuke believed in the curative powers of physical recreation and outdoor exercise.

Read More
York's historic Bootham Park Hospital site to be sold off by NHS
The Retreat was a progressive Quaker mental hospitalThe Retreat was a progressive Quaker mental hospital
The Retreat was a progressive Quaker mental hospital
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They include a tennis court, cricket pitch, bowling green and daffodil meadow. The sports facilities are currently disused and local clubs will be invited to revitalise them.

Once the conversion is completed, the gardens will open to the public and there are plans for a heritage trail and peace garden. The Quaker burial ground will remain operational.

Randall Thorp partner Dick Longdin said: “The Heslington Road estate is a landscape treasure and because of its previous sensitive use one that many people in York are unaware of.

“The task now is to open as much of the grounds as possible for the public to enjoy while retaining private spaces for the new residents.

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PJ Livesey Group co-director Georgina Lynch added: “Heslington Road is a special place and we want to respect and celebrate its heritage while also looking at how it can be opened and

maintained for wider use.”

The three tours on June 25 begin at 10am, 12.30pm and 2.30pm and places must be booked via Eventbrite.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/landscape-tour-of-the-retreat-york-tickets-367639408367

Related topics:York