The Heritage team are working closely with others across Wales on a range of celebrations for the 70th Anniversary on July 5th 2018 If you have a story to tell then please get in touch
Press release for new project Preserving the History of Cefn Coed Hospital
ABMU wins £10k grant to help preserve historic hospital's past Exhibitions, computer games and even an interactive 3D model are part of a special project to mark the history of one of Swansea’s most iconic buildings.
Now the call is going out to former members of staff at Cefn Coed Hospital to come forward to share their memories and volunteer to be part of the project called A Mental Picture: Celebrating the History of Cefn Coed Hospital 1931 to 2018.
Thanks to a £10,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, ABMU’s own dedicated Heritage Group can now go ahead with its ambitious plans for the multi-faceted scheme which is also set to include specially commissioned poetry, oral histories and a display of objects providing a tactile link to the past.
Heritage Group lead Martin Thomas said the project aims to provide a legacy of information about the hospital which occupies an imposing position on a hill above Cockett - its distinctive water tower can be seen for miles around and even featured in an early Dylan Thomas poem.
Built in1929, it was based on an older, Victorian design and, though it is not a listed building, it is one of the last remaining mental health hospitals of its era in the UK. No longer considered fit for purpose for 21st century mental health care, services are gradually being transferred to modern purpose-built facilities, some in the grounds of Cefn Coed.
As the building had played such a significant role in healthcare over the decades the group was eager to mark its contribution and capture the working life and stories of the hospital which was originally planned as an asylum serving Swansea and Merthyr.