Skip to main content
Hospital building seen in full from the north, with people walking in the foreground, two pristine lawns lined by trees and a gate.
<p>The Hospital of Bethlem at Moorfields, London. (Photo: Wellcome Collection)</p>

The first psychiatric hospital opens in London.

1403

MED
MHP
EUR
HOSP
COP
<p>The Hospital of Bethlem at Moorfields, London. (Photo: Wellcome Collection)</p>

Although Bedlam Hospital was officially founded in 1247, it begins accepting permanent patients to confine in 1403. As the first model for confining people with mental health disabilities under the guise of treatment, the hospital is linked to policing and carcerality from its earliest days. It is founded by a former sheriff of London.