Ready for the asylum?

The National Archives have staff who scour sale catalogues and let us know if they find documents relating to Gloucestershire.

In early May they told us that a collection of architect’s drawings for Gloucestershire’s two county lunatic asylums had come on the market – priced at £2,200. The collection included attractive full colour elevations. The vendor agreed to reduce the price and hold them until the Archives knew if they could raise the money. The Friends agreed the plans would be a valuable addition to the Archives' collections and made a donation of £1,000. Tewkesbury Historical Society also made a donation and the balance came from council funds. Just days after first hearing about the plans, County Archivist Heather Forbes and Friends’ Chairman Clive Andrews took delivery of them.