[1] The treatment of lunacy or madness underwent a reformation in the first half of the nineteenth century in America, France and Britain from physical restraint and bizarre procedures to management through the provision of a pleasant environment and work opportunities.

[1] Prior to Queensland becoming a separate colony in 1859, residents who were classified as lunatics or insane and required control were simply placed in the local gaol or sent south to an asylum at Sydney.

[1] The power of symmetrical form with its inherent qualities of balance and order were used to great effect at the Toowoomba asylum in its master planning and building design.

Each of the ward buildings had an associated outdoor area enclosed by a 3-metre (9.8 ft) high close-boarded timber fence into which, shelter sheds and gates were set.

The requisite requirements for a pleasant environment were enhanced by landscaping which including planting of gardens and perimeter trees to create vistas and more intimate areas for repose.

[1] The Baillie Henderson Hospital Complex occupies a 133.4 hectares (330 acres) site about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) north-west of the city of Toowoomba in the suburb of Cranley.

The complex comprises over forty buildings, ten of which were constructed between 1888 and 1910 to the master plan of architect JJ Clark and five between 1915 and 1919 influenced by the principles upheld by Dr HB Ellerton.

[1] The symmetrical layout of the hospital is still evident although obscured from some views by well developed landscaping and the large scale of the recreation and therapy complex located to the west of McDonald Hall.

The red-brown English bond facebrick walls are relieved with banding at sill and floor level, contrasting lintels and multi-paned sash and frame windows.

The red-brown English-bond face brick walls are relieved with banding at sill and floor levels, contrasting lintels and multi-paned sash and frame windows.

Subtle differences between the construction periods of the pairs of wards is evident in the joinery treatment, window shutter details and ventilation grilles.

It has red-brown English-bond face brick walls relieved with banding at sill levels, contrasting lintels and six pane sash and frame windows.

Four pane centre pivoting sash windows are housed in the auditorium walls above the surrounding verandah roof and have contrasting lintels and sills.

The hipped roof of the main hall is supported on impressive timber trusses and the raked ceiling lined with panels of v-jointed tongue and groove boards laid diagonally to the walls.

The main hall houses a large pipe organ and contains a stage with decorative pressed metal proscenium supported on V-jointed tongue-and-groove walls.

These are identical single storey red-brown English bond facebrick structures with hipped corrugated iron roofs and louvred windows with contrasting sills.

[1] The substantial two-storey buildings with corrugated iron roofs have red-brown face brickwork to first floor level and rough-cast render above relieved with contrasting lintels and multi-paned sash and frame windows.

The projecting central wing on the front elevations was finished on both levels with rough cast render relieved with contrasting quoining, banding, copings and lintels.

The dining room is currently used for recreation for patients and therapeutic groups, which is run by Darling Downs Health Service Rehab and Recovery who also occupies the first floor.

[1] James and Hill Houses are a pair of single storey U-shaped buildings with hipped corrugated iron roofs, red-brown facebrick walls relieved with contrasting sills and lintels and multi-paned sash and frame windows.

[1] Tredgold House is a single storey red-brown face brick building of stretcher bond construction with large galvanised iron hipped roof.

The building has a symmetrical plan form with a front entrance given prominence by a battened gabled end projecting above adjacent verandahs, a rough cast finish and roof fleche.

[1] The quarters for the Assistant Medical Superintendent was built in 1898 as a single storey masonry residence with large hipped roof situated at the top of the slope on the western limit of the site for the hospital complex.

[1] The quarters for the Medical Superintendent was built in 1888 as a single storey masonry residence with large hipped roof situated away from the complex to the south east.

Two small bedrooms were located at the rear of the house and a semi detached kitchen and pantry on the south eastern corner was accessible from a verandah.

[1] The landscape forms an integral part of the development of the Baillie Henderson Hospital complex as a major contributing element to the pleasant environment required for the treatment of patients in nineteenth and early twentieth century asylum planning.

On the site, significant and mature landscaping elements are planted along the principal driveways to the hospital proper and residences, around the buildings to provide shelter and restful gardens, to create vistas, pathways and to frame the recreation oval.

Baillie Henderson Hospital clearly demonstrates the principal characteristics of an asylum based on nineteenth and early twentieth century principles.

A common theme in both publications was the emphasis on the systematic arrangement of wards and service buildings and the high level of order and discipline required to control and manage a large number of patients.

[1] The hospital complex is also significant for the aesthetics of its setting as a tree covered haven in a rural landscape with views afforded both from and to the site.