Rob Goemans (Senior Lecturer) and Nigel Horner (Head of School) from the School of Health and Social Care were invited by Stokes to give a talk on the history of the building at The Lawns that Stokes have now moved their coffee business into. The University’s Lincoln Lunatic Asylum Project, led by Rob, is carrying out research analysing the original documents seeking to understand how identity and madness was constructed and understood in Lincoln’s asylum. The Lincoln Lunatic Asylum (LLA) opened in 1820 and, in 1837, became the first asylum in the country to achieve total abolition of mechanical restraint.

The talk, which focussed on the establishment of the asylum, and the factors which influenced the abolition of mechanical restraint, proved highly popular, with attendees filling the old asylum’s ballroom to capacity, around 120 people.

The university will be working with Stokes to develop information boards and leaflets to inform visitors of the history of the building. Anyone wishing for further information about the project may contact Rob via rgoemans@lincoln.ac.uk.

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