Mental Health Ward (Former), Porirua Hospital

26 Upper Main Drive, PORIRUA

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The Porirua Hospital Museum is the last remnant of the original Porirua Lunatic Asylum, once the largest hospital in New Zealand. The Porirua Mental Hospital (as it later became) was also the largest employer in the Porirua area and contributed greatly to the growth of Porirua City. The asylum was established in 1884. The building known as F Ward was completed in 1910 as part of the new initiatives in mental health care that were eventually introduced by the Mental Defectives Act 1911. The building, a simple rectangle in plan, was originally divided into separate rooms for refractory (disturbed) female psychiatric patients. In 1942 the main hospital building was severely damaged in an earthquake and the following year it was demolished, leaving F Ward as the last surviving ward. The ward continued to provide accommodation for female patients until the 1970s when it was closed. It reopened as a museum of mental health soon after. Although some modification has taken place to accommodate new office space and museum displays, the original patients' rooms, nurse's office, and dental surgery have been left as they were. Today polytechnic students, medical professionals and members of the public visit the museum for educational purposes.

Mental Health Ward (Former), Porirua Hospital. Mental Health Museum | Geoff Mew, Wellington Branch Committee of the NZ Historic Places Trust | 18/01/2002 | NZ Historic Places Trust

Location

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List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Place Category 1

Access

Able to Visit

List Number

7444

Date Entered

5th May 1999

Date of Effect

5th May 1999

City/District Council

Porirua City

Region

Wellington Region

Extent of List Entry

Extent of registration is part of the land described as Lot 1 DP 428849 (RT 515824), Wellington Land District, and the buildings known as Mental Health Ward (Former), Porirua Hospital, including their fittings and fixtures. Registration does not include the former Workingman's Hut relocated to the site.

Legal description

Lot 1 DP 428849 (RT 515824), Wellington Land District

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