The Media Archive for Central England is the public screen archive for the East and West Midlands. An independent charity and company based at the University of Lincoln, MACE acquires, catalogues, preserves and makes widely available moving image materials that inform our understanding of the diverse cultures and histories of communities between the Lincolnshire coast and the Welsh border.
This film is part of Free
Hospital Sports 1938
A reminder of pre-war institutional care as the patients of Bracebridge Mental Hospital go for gold in their annual hospital sports.
From the collection of:
Overview
Bracebridge Mental Hospital was situated in the Lincolnshire village of Bracebridge Heath, two miles south of the city of Lincoln. It is the annual sports day and not the hospital itself that brings out the cine camera to produce this reel shot in 1938. It features an array of sideshows and races requiring speed and agility including the sack race, a tug-of-war and the mysterious 'boot race'. It was certainly a day for the hospital's patients to shine.
The hospital was originally known as Lincolnshire County Pauper Lunatic Asylum and was built during 1850-2. By the time this film was shot the name had been changed to Bracebridge Mental Hospital which became St John's Hospital in 1961. The building closed in 1989 with patients being transferred to local care in the community schemes.
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