There Was Once an Asylum
This site not only provides an overview of mental health history and its implications for Goodna, but also explores the complex relationship between memory and history.
We may never know some stories, but this site uncovers history, revealing the layers of understanding that underpin the present.
It is done in a way that honours the patients, clients, and the people.
Anderson House
Built-in 1917
Anderson House (former female patient ward 7) is named after Mervyn Anderson, Toowoomba MLA, former president of the Queensland Sub-Normal Children's Welfare Association, and known to many as "Curley". The building remains largely intact and faces Ellerton Drive. Purpose-built as an admissions ward for female patients, the concept was to provide a facility where patients could be accommodated when first admitted to the institution. It was designed to keep new patients under observation and provide more individual treatment. To achieve this aim, a domestic-scale building with individual cells was proposed. Ellerton prepared initial sketches for the building in 1912, but did not complete the final plans until February 1915. William Kerr was awarded the contract for £13,900, and construction commenced in 1915; the ward opened in January 1917. The building is domestic in scale and set amongst semi-formal gardens, reflecting its original purpose and the principles of moral treatment. Positioned on a rise, the building is accessed from the south via stairs. In 1970, the toilets were refitted, providing additional showers and six washstands in the dormitory were removed. Anderson House is significant in demonstrating a new approach to the treatment of mental illness introduced by HB Ellerton in the 1910s. The concept of villa-type accommodation developed in asylums in England in the late 19th century and departed from the practice of housing patients in large dormitories. The purpose of a villa-type ward, such as Anderson House, was to introduce a domestic scale to the environment for patients, with emphasis on the relationship with the outdoor environment. The building has important aesthetic values derived from its scale and form and is similar to buildings at Ipswich and Toowoomba asylums, as well as more utilitarian buildings such as the School of Musketry at Enoggera.
In 2020, the building was converted to offices with minimal alterations to the original fabric.
Chronology:
1916 construction completed
1970 alterations to the toilet and bathroom areas
