LAST week saw Mental Health Awareness Week take place.

With this in mind, the Dorset History Centre in Dorchester has shared with us this image from the archives of the Herrison Hospital at Charlton Down, which are currently being catalogued.

Herrison started life as Dorset County Asylum, which was originally founded in 1832 and was based at Forston House in Charminster.

By the 1860s, this facility was too small, and the new asylum at the Herrison site was opened in 1863. Herrison House itself was opened in 1904, and in 1940 the institution became known as Herrison Hospital. The hospital closed its doors in 1992.

Due to funding from health research foundation the Wellcome Trust, a new archivist has been appointed to catalogue and research the hospital's records.

A spokesman said: "This collection allows us to better understand how mental health was viewed and treated in Dorset over 200 years."