• Located At: Staffordshire Record Office
• Document Reference Number: D5490, D6020 (pt), 6496, D6628, D6738, D6953, D7841, 7943, etc.
• Date: 1896-1991
• Level: Collection
• Format: Public records
• Description: Overcrowding at the County Asylums at Burntwood and Stafford at the end of the 19th century led the County Lunacy Committee to propose the building of a new hospital in the north of the County. The County Asylum at Cheddleton, later renamed St Edward's Hospital, was built between 1895 and 1899 to designs by architects Giles, Gough and Trollope of London. The new hospital incorporated a tramline, which ran from Leekbrook Junction on the Churnet Valley Line to the hospital site. It opened to patients in August 1899 with accommodation for 600. A burial ground was consecrated on the site in 1903. The building was extended, 1907-1908, when eight new wards were added. The hospital did have some private patients.
  During the First World War patients were transferred to Cheddleton from Rubery Hill Asylum, Worcestershire, Berrywood Asylum, Northamptonshire, and Notts County Asylum, which were evacuated to enable their use as military hospitals. There are no medial records for the evacuated patients as their hospitals would have brought over their own records, but they do appear in the indexed visitors' record books. Other hospitals mentioned in the visitors' record books are Park Prewett (Basingstoke), Storthes Hall (W. Yorks.), Beverley (E. Yorks.), Clifton (N. Yorks.) and Exminster (Devon).
  In the mid-1930s new admission wards and convalescent villas were added.
  The hospital closed to new admissions in 1998, closed completely in 2002, and the buildings were converted into housing.
  [For further information see 'A History of St Edward Hospital, Cheddleton near Leek' by Max Chadwick and David Pearson - a copy is held at the William Salt Library, and "A History of Psychiatry in North Staffordshire" by Edward Myers, 1997].
  
  The collection is strongest on patient records with detailed patient case notes that cover the period from the opening of the hospital in 1899 and continue up to 1960. There are few staff records but those of particular interest include a staff register which covers the early years (1896-1907) and an artisans time book from the 1920s, which lists joiners, plumbers, electricians, gardeners, cleaners and labourers employed at the hospital. The development of the building itself is well documented through a series of building, garden and site plans. While the original architect's plans do not form part of the collection there are detailed floor plans dated 1897 drawn up by the electric lighting engineer.
  
  A small additional collection was received in early 2021 (D7841). It includes Hospital Management Committee minutes, staff records, and miscellaneous items, some collected by Dr Edward Myers when writing his history of the asylum.
• Category:Psychiatric hospitals
• Related Material: Patient records up to 1920 have been indexed see: https://www.staffsnameindexes.org.uk A dataset of information taken from patient records was completed in 2021. For further information see 'About the project' at: https://www.staffsnameindexes.org.uk/default.aspx?Index=U&About=1 A blog about the Staffordshire Asylums was produced as part of the project and is at: https://staffordshireasylumrecords.wordpress.com/ [Links accessed 9/2/2022] For further information contact Staffordshire Record Office
• Related Places: Cheddleton
• Access Conditions: Medical records less than 100 years old are not normally accessible for consultation by the public. Please contact Staffordshire Record Office for further information.
• Reproduction Conditions: Any questions concerning the publication of images of documents in this collection should be directed to the County Archivist, Staffordshire Record Office, Eastgate Street, Stafford ST16 2 LZ.
• Accession Number: SRO 6020
• Accession Number: SRO 7841
• Accession Number: SRO 7943
• Ref No: BC5

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