London Bedlam
Posted on April 27, 2010 - Filed Under Travel
There’s a wealth of important and fascinating historic places in London, all testifying to a rather wild and brilliant story that stacks up like years on the edges of the world’s library. Some of the more fascinating little haunts are places off the beaten path, and some of them are rather large and looming, and may have a smaller following. But certainly interesting all the same, and some would even argue that the real treasures of the city are here.
For all the underworlds that exist side by side with the usual waking life, asylums have a special place in the folklore of a people. In contemporary lenses, most anything related to the mentally ill is visibly barbaric. That might very well play into Foucault’s ideas of madness, and help to unpack the cultural constructions that reveal as much about people as the historical events can suggest. And perhaps seeing the way people were treated then is just a way to justify contemporary practices, which might very well be seen as barbaric by future generations.
However it washes out, Bedlam is an amazing place. Since 1997, it has joined with SLaM, and is considered by many to be at the forefront of care for the mentally ill. There is a small museum on the premises, but it’s more revealing to see the larger exhibitions that are shown at places like the Museum of London . There, one can get an overview of its history in a much larger sense.
It’s a rather disturbing story, but that’s much to be expected from a place that’s become synonymous with madness and chaos. It was built in 1247, and served as a priory for nuns and monks for a century before it became what it’s known as today. That means that it’s been an asylum for over 750 years now, although the term asylum would now be rather questionable. The most notorious years were between the 18th and 19th centuries, when the patients suffered from enormous neglect and absolutely inhumane treatment. Thousands of Londoners would pay to come in and look at the inmates, as if it were a show, like a circus.
Eventually people came to their senses, and that madness was stopped. Visiting London and looking into Bedlam reveals some very interesting truths about the human condition, and how madness shifts in definition according to times and customs. It’s enough to warrant leaving the coziness of a gorgeous hotel , coming to see exhibitions that can help us reflect on who we were and are.
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