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Discover The Warneford
Read about Warneford Hospital’s history and its future; discover its people and find out how care for mental health has evolved over the years.
These pages offer a glimpse into the history of Warneford Hospital, with a selection of stories, photographs and artefacts from the archives. There’s much more to see at our travelling exhibition events though that take place throughout 2026.
The Warneford – 200 years of mental health care
In 1826, the Warneford Hospital opened in Headington as a small charitable asylum, a place of care for those living with mental illness in Oxfordshire….
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Building hope
The only form of public health and social care in the early nineteenth century was provided for ‘paupers’ through the Poor Law. This offered basic…
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Warneford and its people
The most important people in any hospital are the people being cared for and treated there. From the earliest days of the hospital the voices…
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Changes in the way we treat mental health
In the early years of the Warneford Hospital, doctors used traditional treatments like bleeding and purging, as well as electric shock therapy, hydrotherapy (special baths),…
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Warneford – today and tomorrow
Today, the Warneford is part of a network of services, delivered by primary care mental health teams, including services to children and young people (such…
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Events Find out about all our events throughout the year Book Listen to the Experiences of former Warneford Patients Here, visitors have the opportunity to…
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Details of events will be published here soon.
Register your interest below to hear more about Warneford 200 and the work of Oxford Health Charity.
