[1] The hospital was designed by Thomas Fulljames using a corridor plan layout.

[2] It was built in the Gothic style using local old red sandstone with Bath stone dressings and opened as the Joint Counties' Lunatic Asylum in December 1851.

[2] It initially had 210 inmates in 12 wards[3] and was set in grounds of 75 acres of landscaping.

[3] After the introduction of Care in the Community in the early 1980s the hospital went into a period of decline and it finally closed in 1997.

[5] The main hospital building was converted into luxury accommodation by Redrow plc under the name "Sarno Square" in 2001.