Maindiff Court Hospital

Maindiff Court Hospital
Aneurin Bevan Local Health Board

Southern entrance lodge
Geography
Location Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales, United Kingdom
Coordinates 51°50′00″N 2°59′41″W / 51.833218°N 2.994851°W / 51.833218; -2.994851Coordinates: 51°50′00″N 2°59′41″W / 51.833218°N 2.994851°W / 51.833218; -2.994851
Organisation
Care system Public NHS
Hospital type Community Hospital
Services
Emergency department No Accident & Emergency
History
Founded 1924
Links
Website Maindiff Court Hospital
Lists Hospitals in Wales

Maindiff Court Hospital is a Community Hospital near Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, operated by the Aneurin Bevan Local Health Board. Its most noted patient was Rudolf Hess, deputy to Adolf Hitler.

History

The hospital is built on the site of Maindiff Court, a mansion house built by Crawshay Bailey Jnr in 1875.[1] After Bailey's death the estate was sold and in 1924 the estate was presented to Monmouthshire Asylum Committee becoming Maindiff Court Hospital.[2]Maindiff Court was demolished and the neo-Georgian style brick hospital buildings were constructed in its place in the 1930s.[3]

During World War II

Hess in his cell at Landsberg Prison awaiting trial at Nuremberg in 1945/6

In World War II, the facility was known as Maindiff Court Military Hospital and POW Reception Centre. Half of the site was used for recuperating wounded soldiers.[4]

Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy, was held at Maindiff Court from 26 June 1942. Hess had his own room but he was guarded at all times. He was allowed a fair degree of freedom, often being driven about the local countryside, such as the local landmark, the Skirrid mountain. The British government never tried to hide the fact that Hess was being detained in Abergavenny. Indeed, when he first arrived, the staff of the hospital lined up in a formal reception to meet him. The news featured in many of the national papers of the time.[5] According to the Daily Mirror at the time, Hess was known locally as the "Kaiser of Abergavenny".[6]

Today's hospital

Hospital entrance.

Maindiff Court today comprises 4 wards, 1 day hospital and an ECT Department which lie within beautifully kept grounds. The original balustrade can be seen leading down to the day hospital.

There are several wards and departments such as Ty Skirrid, a 12-bedded ward for the Gwent-wide forensic rehabilitation service which caters for men and women who have a mental disorder and have offended or are at risk of offending and provides on-going psychiatric treatment. Lindisfarne, a 3-bedded un-staffed unit which is overseen by staff from Ty Skirrid which provides unsupervised semi-independent living prior to discharge.

Hiraeth Day Hospital provides 12 places a day for 5 days a week for the Abergavenny and rural communities. The ECT department provides electroconvulsive therapy treatment facilities, and the Gwent Specialist Substance Misuse Service has its North Team base on site.

References

  1. ↑ Jones, Alan (Spring 2005). "The 'Squire of Maindiff'". Gwent Local History (98): 53–62.
  2. ↑ Coflein
  3. ↑ Newman, John (2000). The Buildings of Wales: Gwent/Monmouthshire. Penguin Books. p. 103. ISBN 0-14-071053-1.
  4. ↑ BBC - WW2 People's War - Guarding Rudolph Hess
  5. ↑ BBC - Blogs - Wales - Rudolph Hess in Wales
  6. ↑ "Hess, Aged and III, In Mental Hospital", The Ottawa Journal, 14 April 1945, p.1. Retrieved 21 December 2015
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