Arson-hit Victorian asylum's £107m revamp underway

The last patients left North Wales Hospital in 1995

The £107m redevelopment of a derelict Victorian asylum, which has been long plagued by arson and vandalism, is finally moving ahead.

Denbighshire council's cabinet met on Tuesday to approve the issuing of private funding to support the first phase in revamping the Grade II-listed former North Wales Hospital in Denbigh.

Empty since 1996, a full overhaul of the site is expected to take 12 years to complete.

The eventual development could see 300 new homes built on the land as well as business units.

Built between 1844 and 1848, North Wales Hospital was designed to provide care for up to 200 Welsh-speaking people with mental illnesses.

However, by the mid-20th Century it housed about 1,500 patients.

As medical and public opinion turned against Victorian-style asylums, it was first earmarked for closure in the 1960s.

But it took until 1987 for the recommendation to be implemented, with the last patients leaving in 1995.

Denbighshire bought the site following a compulsory purchase order in 2018.

Funding for the scheme is part of the Levelling-Up Fund Vale of Clwyd Programme, following the UK Government recently formalising a grant award of £7m, contributing towards the £13m cost of phase one.

Considered a project of regional significance, the redevelopment scheme is being led by Ambition North Wales, who have secured £3m of private investment with "no additional cost to the council".

Denbigh councillor Rhys Thomas said: "I'm very supportive of this.

"It is good to see the project moving forward after all the difficulties that have been encountered over the years."