North Wales Hospital, Grade II* listed former mental hospital in Denbigh, Wales.
North Wales Hospital is a former psychiatric clinic in Denbigh, Wales, now protected as a listed building. The complex consists of several wings with stone walls and shows typical features of Victorian hospital architecture.
The institution opened in 1848 with room for 200 patients and was one of the first asylums for people with mental illness in Wales. After several expansions, the hospital closed in 1995 and has since fallen into decay.
The Welsh name Ysbyty'r Gogledd reflects the linguistic connection between the institution and the Welsh-speaking population. The buildings once served as a treatment site for people from several counties in North Wales and shaped psychiatric care in the region for over a century.
The site is closed due to risk of collapse and cannot be visited. Restoration plans are expected to begin in 2024 and may enable access at a later stage.
By the mid-20th century, the clinic had grown to accommodate 1500 people. This size made it the largest psychiatric institution in all of North Wales.
Location: Denbigh
Inception: 1844
Elevation above the sea: 94.5 m
GPS coordinates: 53.17550,-3.41898
Latest update: December 5, 2025 22:31
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.
Leicester's Church (remains)
746 m
Gwaenynog
1.8 km
Denbigh Friary
1.5 km
Town Hall, Denbigh
947 m
Burgess Gate
799 m
St Hilary's Chapel
704 m
St Marcella's Church
2.1 km
Denbigh Museum
1.3 km
Denbigh War Memorial
914 m
St David's Church
994 m
St Mary's Church
966 m
Dr Johnson's Monument
2.2 km
Former Church Institute, including low stone enclosing walls
931 m
Denbigh Library and Gallery
907 m
Thomas Gee's house
958 m
Pont Felin Ganol
1 km
Chest Tomb of Twm O'r Nant at the Church of St Marcella
2.1 km
Denbigh Conservative Club (Former Constitutional Club)
867 m
Golden Lion Public House
905 m
Town Wall, Including North-east, Countess And Goblin Towers
602 m
County Hall
902 m
Lon Swan Chapel
1 km
Market Cross
916 m
Capel Mawr
1.1 km
Plas Castell, also known as Castle House
736 m
Nurses Home at the North Wales Hospital
244 m
Vale Street English Presbyterian Church
1 km
Bronyffynnon Surgery
924 mReviews
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