'Up Bodmin': A History of St Lawrence's Hospital with Dr Jo Esra - Kresen Kernow скачать в хорошем качестве

'Up Bodmin': A History of St Lawrence's Hospital with Dr Jo Esra - Kresen Kernow

PLEASE BE AWARE THERE IS MENTION OF HISTORICAL TERMS FOR PEOPLE WITH MENTAL HEALTH IN THIS TALK. For multiple generations growing up in Cornwall there has been an automatic association between Bodmin and mental illness. To have gone ‘up Bodmin’ is a familiar phrase, often used in a derogatory way, to describe someone with mental health issues who has been admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Cornwall’s first such hospital was indeed located at Bodmin: St Lawrence’s Hospital, formerly ‘Cornwall County Lunatic Asylum’, or simply ‘Bodmin Asylum’. At its height it accommodated well over a thousand patients and operated as a self-contained community. This talk will explore the history of St Lawrence’s, exploring its origins and demise, and the changes which took place in between. It will also look at how these changes can be mapped to reflect shifts in wider cultural attitudes towards mental illness over time. About the speaker: Dr Jo Esra is a Lecturer at the University of Exeter, based in the Department of English and Creative Writing and part of the Institute of Cornish Studies. Her research focuses on ‘peoples’ history’: on the lives and experiences of those who have been neglected or overlooked in traditional histories. Along with Dr Cathy English and Dr Beth Chapman from Cornwall NHS Foundation Trust Mental Health Team, she was part of the Asylum Stories Project. The Project collated written and oral memories from former patients and staff of St Lawrence’s Hospital, Bodmin, as well as objects and photographs. The Project has resulted in an important archive of material housed at Kresen Kernow. This online talk was recorded via Zoom.