Burden Neurological Institute

Stoke Park Hospital
The Dower House, formerly part of the hospital
Shown on the edge of Bristol
Geography
Location	Bristol, England, United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°29′42″N 2°32′38″W / 51.495°N 2.544°W / 51.495; -2.544Coordinates: 51°29′42″N 2°32′38″W / 51.495°N 2.544°W / 51.495; -2.544
Organisation
Care system	Public NHS
Hospital type	Specialist
Services
Speciality	Mental handicap
History
Founded	1909
Closed	circa 1997
Links
Lists	Hospitals in England

Stoke Park Hospital, was a large mental handicap hospital, closed circa 1997, situated on the north-west edge of Bristol, England, just within South Gloucestershire. Most patients were long-term residents, both adults and children of all ages. A school was on-site. Prior to 1950, it was known as the Stoke Park Colony, which was founded in 1909.

The Burden Neurological Institute, opened in 1939, was co-located at the hospital, and outlasted the hospital on the site to 2000. The associated Burden Neurological Hospital was formed in 1969. The Institute continues to operate at Frenchay Hospital as a charity.

In 1902 the Rev. Harold Nelson Burden, chaplain at Horfield Prison, and Katharine his wife founded the National Institutions for Persons Requiring Care and Control to care for mentally disabled children and adults. In 1908 they rented the Stoke Park estate, opening the Stoke Park Colony in April 1909. The colony was the first institution certified as a home for mentally disabled patients under the Mental Deficiency Act 1913, the Rev. Burden having been a member of the Royal Commission for inquiry into care of the feeble-minded that lead to the Act. The colony was regarded as a leading institution of its type.

In 1929 Prof Richard James Arthur Berry took over the medical directorship of the hospital.

The National Health Service took over the colony in 1948, which along with the smaller Purdown, Leigh Court and Hanham Hall hospitals, was run by the Stoke Park Hospital Management Committee with 1930 beds for patients. Little development took place, with other types of hospital being prioritised, and gradually the hospital became overcrowded and understaffed. The Hospital Advisory Service visited in 1971 and wrote a damning report on the terrible conditions at Stoke Park. The report was leaked by hospital staff to the press and the BBC, and raised in parliament, resulting in £1 million being spent on new wards and a 29% revenue increase for the hospital.