New future looms for a former asylum and its 'enchanted forest'

Nicole Reporter from Dunedin News

At the time it was the country’s worst fire, claiming the lives of 37 women locked in a psychiatric hospital.

Now all that remains of the former Seacliff Lunatic Asylum, about 30km north of Dunedin, are some stone remnants and a few smaller buildings in private ownership.

The Robert Lawson-designed building was the largest commissioned in the country when it opened in 1884, but was plagued by issues, including landslips, before the fatal fire on December 8, 1942.

A resulting inquiry determined the asylum, which later housed noted author Janet Frame, was well past its use by date, but it would remain open until 1973.

Part of that site now forms the Truby King Reserve, a recreation area of about 16 hectares.

The Dunedin City Council, which was given power over the land from the Department of Conservation in 1991, will discuss a management plan for the reserve on Tuesday.

An extensive report on the reserve noted the importance of the asylum’s history, which represented “the evolution of mental health care in New Zealand”.

Changing norms and methods of treatment coupled with the instability of the land under the institution led to its eventual closure, the report notes.

The site was named after Plunket pioneer Sir Frederic Truby King, with his recommendations including patients growing their own food grown in the substantial gardens.

The reserve’s “enchanted forest” has hundreds of specimen trees planted by King, a botany enthusiast.

The report noted many of the trees were unsafe, and an audit was required.

The reserve, which has stone remnants of the former asylum, also includes an historic cricket ground, tennis court and community orchard.

The council was advised to approve the new management plan, which will include a new car park, picnic and barbecue area, and new signage tracing the footprint of the historic building.