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The Great Britain Guide

Museums · London

Bethlem Museum of the Mind

Modern♿ Wheelchair accessible

Bethlem Museum of the Mind — re-sited and relaunched art and medical museum, sited at the Bethlam Royal Hospital, Beckenham, London Borough of Bromley, United Kingdom.

Bethlem Museum of the Mind, museums in London

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Plan your visit

Typical visit
1.5 h–3 h
Best time of year
Year-round
Nearest railway station
Hayes · 1.5 km
  • Family-friendly
  • Wheelchair accessible

About

Bethlem Museum of the Mind is a museum in the United Kingdom. Records date its origin to 2015. Address: BR3 3BX. Wikidata describes it as: "re-sited and relaunched art and medical museum, sited at the Bethlam Royal Hospital, Beckenham, London Borough of Bromley, United Kingdom". Coordinates: 51.3809°, 0.0297°.

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From the Wikipedia article

Bethlem Museum of the Mind is a museum focusing on the history of Bethlem Royal Hospital, its programme of care, and its patients. Opened in 2015, the museum is housed in an Art Deco building shared with the Bethlem Gallery, which hosts exhibitions of contemporary artists who are current or former patients. The museum's displays include work by artists who have suffered from mental health problems, such as former patients William Kurelek, Richard Dadd and Louis Wain. Another work is a pair of statues by Caius Gabriel Cibber known as Raving and Melancholy Madness, from the gates of the 17th century Bethlem Hospital. Other displays illustrate the history of mental healthcare. The museum is a member of the London Museums of Health & Medicine.

Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.

Background

History

Since 1970, there had been a small museum at the hospital that mainly displayed items from the hospital's art collection. Due to the restricted size of the former museum, known as the "Bethlem Royal Hospital Archives and Museum", only a small fraction of the collections could be displayed at a time. The inaugural temporary exhibition was Bryan Charnley: the Art of Schizophrenia, a monographic show on the artist (and former Bethlem patient) Bryan Charnley. In April 2016 the museum was shortlisted for the Museum of the Year award, alongside the Victoria and Albert Museum (the eventual winner), the Arnolfini, York Art Gallery and Jupiter Artland sculpture park and gallery.

Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Coordinates
51.3809, 0.0297
District
Bromley
Parish
Bromley, unparished area
Postcode
BR3 3BX
Parliamentary constituency
Bromley and Biggin Hill
Established
2015
Nearest railway station
Hayes1.5 km

Sources

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Frequently asked questions

Where is Bethlem Museum of the Mind?
Bethlem Museum of the Mind is in London, United Kingdom (postcode BR3 3BX), in the parish of Bromley, unparished area.
When was Bethlem Museum of the Mind built?
Built or established in 2015.
How do I get to Bethlem Museum of the Mind?
The nearest railway station is Hayes, about 1.5 km away. Drivers can navigate to postcode BR3 3BX.