HEALTH: WHITTINGHAM DAY TRIP

T H E    P L O T    T H I C K E N S

After a full week of heavy research through various sources I have gathered some more knowledge of Clara Whitaker. Born in 1907 as Clara Jolliffe to William Henry Jolliffe and Clara Jolliffe (Schofield). Clara lived in Blackpool for the majority of her life, and in 1930 she married Sydney Whitaker, in 1937 her daughter Sybil Whitaker was born. In 1952 she was admitted in to Whittingham Mental Asylum, Preston.
I have developed a full map of our family tree on the Whitaker/Jolliffe side in this week, this project has somehow become a high school history project, but I have made some progress in learning about Clara's health, and why she was admitted to Whittingham.


Above is a photo of a young Clara Whitaker

I had the chance to go to the old site of Whittingham Hospital in Preston, however not much is left, the majority of the hospital grounds were demolished to make room for new housing and other property, the only thing left is the Church and the the cemetery. Given I didn't know much about Clara at this time I thought it could be beneficial to visit the graves, on the off chance she died in the care of Whittingham.


The Church is completely inaccessible due to fragile structure, there is a metal fence surrounding the full exterior of the building. 



I thought it best not to trespass and so only took photos from behind the barrier.



The cemetery is a short walk away from the church, secluded in its own small park.
At first there was no visible graves, I thought maybe they had been moved when the main grounds were demolished however I soon found some small spotted military graves.


I still found it quite barren for a Hospital cemetery, moving to the next area, and behind some trees, I found rows upon rows of gravestones all made out to patients who died in the 80s. I was told by some locals that the developers building housing on the site nearby had recently gained access to build over this whole cemetery. Who knows what will happen to the gravestones.


Below is a map showing, on the left, Whittingham Hospital as it once was, and on the right, the grounds today.


Whittingham was well known for being a grand hospital, with its own ballroom, farm, sports-club, and even railway. Below are a selection of photographs of Whittingham when it was still in use as a Mental Asylum.