Just off Bath Road in Wells lies Mendip Hospital Cemetery.

The three acre patch is the burial ground for the Somerset and Bath Pauper Lunatic Asylum, which was later known as the Wells Mental Hospital, then the Mendip Hospital. Nearly 3000 former patients and staff were laid to rest here between 1874 and 1963.

Now it is an oasis of calm – a wildlife sanctuary filled with wild flowers, butterflies, bees, dragonflies and more. It is a living memory to those who lived and died in the old hospital in South Horrington.

The Mendip Hospital Cemetery is open to visitors between April and the end of September and this Sunday (September 25) is the last opportunity to visit this piece of Wells history this year.

In the chapel on the site there is an exhibition of words and pictures, giving an insight into life in the Victorian Asylum.

This is a photograph of the corridor of a women's ward in the Victorian Somerset and Bath County Pauper Lunatic Asylum and below is a quote from their 31st Annual Report penned by Dr Medlicott the Medical Superintendent.

"There is no object of greater interest to the patients than the internal decoration of their wards and considering the various styles of ornamentation with which the walls can now cheaply be covered, especially be means of patterns in stencil, so no difficulty has been found in giving employment to the patients in improving the conditions of various corridors and dormitories throughout the Asylum. To a very large number of patients the Asylum becomes their permanent home, and it is, therefore, more desirable to soothe their wearied minds by making it as pleasing as possible in all its surroundings." 1881

There are many more images like this available to see in the exhibition so don't miss the chance to visit.