St Bernard's Hospital , 1938 - 1980 x Middlesex County Asylum, Hanwell , 1831 - 1889 x London County Asylum, Hanwell , 1889 - 1917 x London County Mental Hospital , 1918 - 1928 x Hanwell Mental Hospital , 1929 - 1937

St Bernard's Hospital , 1938 - 1980 x Middlesex County Asylum, Hanwell , 1831 - 1889 x London County Asylum, Hanwell , 1889 - 1917 x London County Mental Hospital , 1918 - 1928 x Hanwell Mental Hospital , 1929 - 1937

Hanwell was the first pauper lunatic asylum for the county of Middlesex. Its official name was the Middlesex County Asylum, Norwood, but the institution was commonly known as Hanwell Asylum.

It opened in June 1831, originally to take 500 patients, but the building was enlarged in 1831, 1837, 1857 and 1879 to cope with the increasing demand for beds. In 1888 the Asylum had 1891 patients. Hanwell achieved great prominence in the field of psychiatric nursing due to the work of two of its first Medical Superintendents. Dr (later Sir) William Ellis, the first Medical Superintendent at Hanwell (1831-1838) introduced his idea of "Therapy of Employment", which encouraged patients to use the skills and trades which they had acquired before entering the Asylum, to occupy themselves, for the benefit of the Asylum and as an aid in their treatment by restoring their self respect and by reviving an aspect of their lives from before their illness. This was the forerunner of occupational therapy and industrial therapy. In time the system was somewhat abused and patient labour was used to provide some of the essential services of the Asylum, so reducing its running costs.

Dr John Conolly, the third Medical Superintendent at Hanwell and later its Visiting Physician (1839-1852) abolished all use of mechanical restraints to control patients at the Asylum. Although he was not the first to use more humane methods of treating the insane, the abolition of mechanical restraints at Hanwell was the first time that the idea had been applied on such a large scale and on so many different types of patients. It was a huge success and attracted visitors from all over England and encouraged the abolition of mechanical restraints in other Asylums. By using Ellis's system of employment for therapy, and with padded rooms and periods of seclusion or solitary confinement, and some sedatives, Conolly was able to control even the most violent patients without resorting to mechanical restraints. Protective clothing was sometimes used to prevent patients tearing their clothing or breaking crockery etc, but these never restricted their movements. No mechanical restraints were used at Hanwell between 1840 and 1890.

Hanwell's full title was the Middlesex County Asylum at Hanwell. In 1889 the Asylum was taken over by the newly formed London County Council and became the London County Asylum, Hanwell. In 1918 it became a County Mental Hospital. In 1937 its name was changed to Saint Bernard's Hospital. From 1948 to 1974 it was part of the North West Metropolitan Region with its own hospital management committee. In 1974 it became part of North West Thames Regional Health Authority and was within Ealing Health District. In 1980 it was absorbed into Ealing Hospital and is now known as the Psychiatric Unit, Saint Bernard's Wing, Ealing Hospital. It had 950 beds and functioned as a psychiatric and psycho-geriatric hospital for long stay patients. The hospital fell under the Ealing NHS Trust in the late eighties and then the North West London Mental Health NHS Trust in 2001.