Bethlem Royal Hospital Archives and Museum

The small museum displays a remarkable collection of pictures by artists who have suffered from mental disorder, including Richard Dadd, Vaslav Nijinsky and Louis Wain: also the statues of 'Raving and Melancholy Madness' from the gates of 17th century Bedlam, and other material relating to the history of psychiatry. The archives contain records of the Bethlem and Maudsley Hospitals from the sixteenth century on. Visit www.bethlemheritage.org.uk for more information. The Bethlem Blog provides news and historical information.

The Bethlem Royal Hospital Archives and Museum also features in our Learning section.

Current & Forthcoming Exhibitions

'A Clearer, Bluer Sky': The Transformation of the Monks Orchard Estate
11 January - 3 February 2012
Wednesday - Friday & Saturday 14 January, 11am - 6pm

An exhibition in the Bethlem Gallery on the Hospital’s move in the 1920s from the distinctive, dome-topped Victorian building that now houses the Imperial War Museum to the Monks Orchard Estate. The exhibition explores the conversion of the site from country estate to modern hospital through maps, archive photographs and art from the collections of Bethlem’s Archives and Museum.

Opening: Wednesday 11 January, 3 - 6pm

Exhibition continues: Wednesday - Friday & Saturday 14 January, 11am - 6pm

Location: Bethlem Gallery, Bethlem Royal Hospital
Admission: Free

Richard Dadd: An Artist Abroad
2 February - 27 April
Monday - Friday, 9.30am - 4.30pm
& Saturdays 11 Feb, 10 March, 14 April, 11am - 5pm

Richard Dadd began to exhibit his work in 1837, at the age of twenty, and soon began to make a reputation. He was considered to be one of the most promising young artists of his generation. At the age of twenty-five he was employed to travel with Sir Thomas Phillips through Europe and the Middle East, and make drawings of the places they visited. The exhibition focuses on this ten month period of Dadd’s life, towards the end of which the artist developed symptoms of severe mental disturbance.

Location: Bethlem Archives & Museum

Admission: Free

Contact Us

Bethlem Royal Hospital Archives and Museum
Monks Orchard Road
Beckenham
Kent
BR3 3BX
Tel. 020 3228 4307/4227
Fax. 020 3228 4045

Visitor Information

Opening Hours
Monday-Friday, 09:30-16:30
Saturday openings confirmed for 2012: 14 Jan, 11 Feb, 10 March, 14 April, 5 May, 2 June, 7 July 11:00-17:00

Closed public holidays, and occasionally at other times. Please phone before a visit to confirm opening times.
Archives open by appointment only.

Admission free but donations welcome.

Charing Cross to Eden Park, Victoria to East Croydon

(From East Croydon) 119, 194, 198, 356 (from Eden Park)

Tell Us About Your Visit

Brilliant in every way! 18 July 2009

We were visiting from the states and found this museum to be a GREAT day out!