THE BUILDING OF ST. JAMES'S HOSPITAL, 1879

75 acres of land was purchased by Portsmouth Council (WHO FROM? - James Goldsmith?) in the area between Velder Creek and Eastney Lake. Velder Creek has since been filled in and a housing estate built on it.
 

The newly built Borough of Portsmouth Asylum (now St. James' Hospital) in Asylum Road (now Locksway Road) was opened on the 30th September 1879.
 

  

 
The asylum was built on was rough land, but this provided a good opportunity for its cultivation by the patients as part of their occupational therapy and rehabilitation. The community would be as self sufficient as possible, having its own farm and growing its own crops. The land cost £14,000 and the buildings £120,000.
 
The first Medical Superintendent was Dr. W.C. Bland who was succeeded in 1895 by Dr. B.H. Mumby
 
Some reports from 1880 published in the Hampshire Telegraph
 

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