The Retreat - Conserving Historic Hospitals in the 21st Century
Thu, 27 Mar
|The Retreat
York Georgian Society invites you to join us for an afternoon getting to know The Retreat, prior to its conversion to residential use. This is a rare chance to see inside the historic mental healthcare facility famous for pioneering the humane treatment of patients in the 18th century.
Time & Location
27 Mar 2025, 14:00 – 17:30
The Retreat, Heslington Rd, York YO10, UK
About the Event
York Georgian Society invites you to join us for an afternoon getting to know The Retreat, prior to its conversion to residential use. This is a rare chance to see inside the historic mental healthcare facility famous for pioneering the humane treatment of patients in the 18th century. The Retreat’s influence on improvements in mental healthcare reached across Europe and North America.
The local Tuke family established The Retreat in 1792, as a reaction to the mistreatment of patients at Bootham Park Hospital, York. Designed to emulate a country house set within a parkland landscape, the new hospital represented a radical departure from prevailing 18th century treatment methods.
The Retreat continued in its original use until the 2020s, when it was sold by the Quaker trust to PJ Livesey for residential redevelopment.
Join us to learn about the site’s history, the importance of the Grade-II* listed landscape, and the challenges…