Gladesville Hospital – A Gem on our Doorstep
The Trust has long been mindful of the significance of the historic and picturesque Gladesville Hospital site and been involved in conducting walks around the area to help raise awareness of this special place.
We were recently approached by a Journalist from ABC News Sydney who was writing an article on Callan Park and examining other former psychiatric sites in Sydney, including Gladesville Hospital. She was interested in the Trust’s local perspective regarding the site’s historical, social, cultural and environmental value at a time when commercial interests are often prioritised.
With the current focus on housing development, we were pleased to contribute and emphasize the social significance and heritage of this beautiful area and the invaluable green space it provides for the community.
Read the article here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-07/future-for-sydney-former-psychiatric-hospital-sites-callan-park/105829904
- Superintendent’s House
- Hospital provisions area
- Hospital Ward 18
- Hospital ‘Cottage’ now housing SPASM museum
- Hospital ‘Ward 20A’
- Hospital Ward 24
- Digby House
- ClockTower Bldg 30
- Gladesville Hospital Stable Plans State Archives
This article served as a timely reminder for us to revisit the importance of this area which has ancient significance as a site of Aboriginal occupation with evidence of open and shelter middens near the foreshore.
Gladesville Hospital’s colonial history started in 1834 when a decision to establish an Asylum at Tarban Creek made it the first purpose-built mental health asylum on mainland Australia. It is architecturally significant with the original sandstone complex being designed by Colonial Architect Mortimer Lewis between 1836 and 1838 and the site contains many fine examples of classical sandstone architecture, quadrangles and stone walls. Its subsequent brick built wards, formal gardens, escarpment terraces and vistas of early landscaping are equally impressive.
The Hospital’s social history is as important as its historical roots. Dr Francis Campbell, the first Medical Superintendent, was appointed in 1848 and at his retirement twenty years later, wrote of his attempts to change the ‘hereditary system of inhuman expediency transmitted from one generation of unreflecting men to another’.
However his successor in 1868, Dr Frederick Norton Manning a former naval surgeon, had much more success, making recommendations to Parliament for the extension of accommodation for patients and staff, the provision of a Superintendent’s house, improved recreation facilities for patients and the acquisition of an adjoining twenty-eight acre property for agriculture. Large dormitories of wood and galvanised iron were erected in 1869 and a two-storey building for women in 1871.
Dr Manning minimised the use of restraints and introduced new reforms and radical improvements in the care of his ‘patients’, based on ‘moral therapy’ principles of psychiatric care and the belief that an environment where the patient was involved with nature, was beneficial. He made provisions for patient activities with workshops, gardening and small scale farming to reduce the boredom of life in an asylum and improve the quality and variety of fresh food in inmates’ diet. The landscape played a pivotal role in this method of treatment and during 1871-78 many native trees and exotic plants were sent from the Botanic Gardens to enhance the grounds.
Gas lighting was installed in 1887 and in 1888 The Priory, on the northern side of Victoria Road, was added to the Gladesville Hospital complex. In 1892, after a connection to piped water was established, baths were built as part of the increasing use of hydrotherapy in the care and cure of the mentally ill.
- Gladesville Hospital Front Garden (Hunters Hill Historical Society)
- View of the vineyards and Superintendent’s residence
- Gladesville Hospital 1883, State Archives Office
Dr Manning pioneered mental health care in NSW and helped develop a sound legislative basis for the administration of public asylums. He sought to change attitudes, resulting in an opening up of the accountability and public image of the asylum system and laying the groundwork for future developments in mental healthcare in Australia.
Re-named Gladesville Mental Hospital in 1915, it was successfully used to rehabilitate WWI servicemen at that time but eventually closed as a standalone entity in 1993. The approach to the treatment of mental illness has progressed significantly since the 19th century with strong research demonstrating that people with mental health problems do much better in the community, if they are well supported.
The important buildings and structures on this site plus its grounds are listed on the NSW State Heritage Register. The Asylum Cemetery, the final resting place for 1,228 inmates, has recently been specifically recognised as culturally significant, with its Cypress Grove typical of the Victorian-era as physical evidence of the burial ground and a particularly poignant reminder, given that most of the graves are without headstones.
This 25-hectare site is owned by the NSW Department of Health who have in previous years, stated their commitment to being a responsible and inclusive caretaker recognising the social and historical significance of the Hospital complex.
In current times, with more and more families living in apartments with limited room for physical play, green space is becoming increasingly valuable and this site is available for the public to wander through. It is a well used area where many people come together to play sport, picnic, walk and enjoy outdoor pursuits in the open parklands, as well as appreciating the expansive water views over the Parramatta River from the network of paths around the shoreline. The Bedlam Bay Swim Site is also now open and is another welcome community asset.
The Trust is not about preserving heritage at any cost but we consider that it is in the best interests of public health and wellbeing that, if a limited area of the site were to be considered for homes in the future, it should be for the sensible and respectful development of social housing (including Supported Independent Living) and affordable housing that can co-exist harmoniously within established green space, mature trees and heritage to preserve the charm and relevance of this site’s important and poignant history.
In this way, it can be preserved for the good of all and for the benefit of future generations.
Credit for some text and images: Nomination for State Heritage Register submitted by the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (NSW) 2018
See also the Gladesville Hospital entry under Conservation in HH https://huntershilltrust.org.au/archive/gladesville-hospital/





























The consultant architects have stated that the building is being designed to comply with the current LEP and – as Hunters Hill Village was not included in the recent planning reforms introduced by the NSW State Government – we will be looking for Council’s reassurance that the current LEP restrictions on height and density in this location will be maintained.






