Bethlem Royal Hospital, Psychiatric hospital in Bromley, England
Bethlem Royal Hospital is a psychiatric facility in the London Borough of Bromley with multiple buildings on a green campus that house specialized mental health care and research facilities. The campus includes wards for different types of treatment as well as a publicly accessible museum and gallery.
Simon Fitzmary founded the institution in 1247 near what is now Liverpool Street Station as a priory. Over the centuries the hospital moved locations several times and became one of the oldest psychiatric facilities in the world.
The Bethlem Gallery collection spans several centuries of patient artwork, showing how creative expression has remained part of care across different treatment eras. The Museum of the Mind displays historical treatment objects that give visitors a direct look at past therapeutic approaches.
The facility operates both inpatient and outpatient treatment units with specialized areas for different psychiatric conditions under the National Health Service administration. The museum grounds are open to the public and offer insight into the history of psychiatric care.
The word bedlam, now meaning chaos or confusion, comes from the historical name of this hospital. The linguistic evolution reflects past public perception of psychiatric institutions.
Location: London Borough of Bromley
Inception: 1247
Part of: National Health Service
Address: Monks Orchard Rd, Beckenham BR3 3BX, UK
Phone: +442032286000
Website: https://slam.nhs.uk/our-services/hospital-care/bethlem-royal-hospital
GPS coordinates: 51.38083,-0.02944
Latest update: December 4, 2025 19:00
This collection brings together former psychiatric hospitals and sanatoriums that carry difficult histories and reputations as places where the past seems to linger. Many of these buildings stand empty or have been converted to new purposes, but they all share a common thread: they once treated patients under conditions that were often experimental and sometimes cruel. Over the years, accounts of mistreatment, strange occurrences, and unexplained presences have drawn historians, urban explorers, and visitors curious about the darker chapters of medical history. From the northeastern United States to isolated corners of Europe, Asia, and other regions, each site tells its own story of suffering and change. The collection includes places like Willard Asylum in New York, where patients spent entire lifetimes behind its walls, and the Gothic Revival ruin of the Smallpox Hospital on Roosevelt Island, now visible only from a distance. In Italy, the Ospedale Psichiatrico di Volterra grew from a medieval hospice into a sprawling complex, while Severalls Hospital in Essex treated patients for more than a century using methods that ranged from electroshock to lobotomy. Rockhaven Sanitarium in California offered a gentler approach for women, yet its empty cottages now evoke a sense of time standing still. Whether exploring the overgrown pathways of Letchworth Village or walking the silent corridors of Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, visitors encounter buildings that witnessed decades of human struggle and transformation.
Kelsey Park
2.4 km
Shirley Windmill
2.2 km
Church of St Mary Addington
2.5 km
Wickham Court
2.5 km
Ashburton Learning Village
2.3 km
Bethlem Gallery
19 m
Long Lane Wood
1.9 km
Bethlem Royal Archives and Museum
165 m
Church of St John the Baptist
2.3 km
Church of St John
1.8 km
Church of All Saints
643 m
The Swan
1.2 km
Tomb of parents of John Ruskin
1.7 km
Monument To Members Of The Preston Family In North West Corner Of Churchyard Of St John
1.8 km
St John's Eden Park
1.4 km
West Wickham War Memorial
1.8 km
St Francis of Assisi
967 m
77, Addington Road
2.2 km
Shirley Library
1.3 km
Ashburton Library
2.4 km
Unigate Dairies
830 m
The White Lodge
428 m
West Wickham Library
1.2 km
Shirley Methodist Church
2 km
Walls Along South Boundary Of Churchyard Of Church Of St Mary
2.5 km
Lych-gate to Church of St John the Baptist's Churchyard
2.4 km
Kelsey Lodge
2.3 km
Lodge Opposite Wickham Court
2.4 kmReviews
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