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7
Asylum according to the plans and specifications prepared
by Messrs. A. & C. Harston, the amount of his
tender being £29,932, the lowest of twelve competitors;
the highest tender was £34,308.

The above amount was borrowed under the authority
of the Poor Law Board, and the Loans obtained from the
London Life Association at per cent., the interest
being payable half-yearly, and the principal by thirty
equal annual instalments.
On Monday the 7th August, 1871, upwards of three
years after the formation of the District, the Asylum
was opened for the reception of patients, and on the
4th April, 1873, Mr. Stansfeld, the then President of
the Local Government Board visited the Asylum
without notice, and at the conclusion of its inspection
made the following entry in the Visitors' Book:—
"I have for the first time visited this admirably, I
"might almost say perfectly, managed and model
"Institution, and I desire to record the great
"satisfaction which I have derived from my
"visit."
The area of the Sick Asylum District is 2,798 acres
and at the time of the formation of the District contained
a population of 135,768. At the last census
taken this population had risen to 224,124, an increase
of 65 per cent. As might be expected, this
increase made itself felt in the accommodation provided
in the Sick Asylum, and difficulty naturally arose in