Aradale Mental Hospital

Aradale Mental Hospital was an Australian psychiatric hospital, located in Ararat, Victoria, Australia. Construction began in 1860, and the guardhouses are listed as being built in 1866 though the list of patients extends as far back as the year before (1865). It was closed as an asylum in 1993 and at present is not open to the general public.

Construction
It was built largely by subcontractors and not patients (or "clients" as they were called) as many erroneously believe. The outer brick fence was built by ex-pat British contractors and is evidenced in the style of bricklaying used. The asylum was built as a town within a town with its own market gardens, piggery and other stock kept on the grounds. At its height it had over 500 staff and as it stands today the complex is made up of 63 buildings ranging in age from the original wings built in 1860 to the modern forensic unit which was built in 1991 - only two years before the facility closed. Despite being closed as an asylum the facility continued to house female prisoners during the building/renovation of Dame Phyllis Frost Centre right up until its current management took over in 2001.