For many families, psychiatric hospitals in the 1970s are remembered with uncertainty or worry. Large institutions could appear imposing from the outside. Movies such as One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest shaped perceptions of what life was like as a patient. 

Yet daily life inside often included warmth, good food, routine and human connection. It also included time out in nature, which we now call Nature Therapy.

Occupational therapy departments were busy, sociable spaces. Patients gathered to knit, paint, work with wood, garden or bake. Staff aimed to create structure and purpose in days that might otherwise have felt empty.

There were conversations over clay and cups of tea, shared jokes in sewing rooms, and quiet pride in finished work.

Care in the 1970s reflected the understanding of its time. Some practices would feel outdated today. Yet many nurses, therapists and support staff were deeply committed to kindness, safety and dignity.

For some former patients, these workshops were places where they felt calm, capable and seen as more than a diagnosis.

If your relative spent time in a psychiatric hospital, they likely experienced moments of companionship, creativity and everyday normality within those spaces.

This Heritage project honours both the people who received care at Whitecroft on the Isle of Wight in the 1970s, as well as those who helped run the hospital. 

World Cafe Dates

Come and join us for coffee and meaningful conversations at The Priory in Carisbrooke (behind Carisbrooke Castle) on the following dates.  Open to all and free.

October 16th  10am to 1pm

October 21st  10am to 1pm

October 27th  10am to 1pm

.There will be an interactive exhibition to help promote discussion.

Exhibition

In October there will be three interactive exhibitions at The Priory in Carisbrooke.

This will be followed by a main exhibition in February 2027

Click on the link below for details

World Cafes 

We will be holding a series of World Cafes to help shape the final exhibition
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Click on the link below for details

Oral Histories 

We will be collecting stories and memories of Whitecroft in the 1970s.

Click on the link below for details​

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