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Before the outbreak of World War One, Moss Side Military Hospital in Maghull was treating patients with epilepsy. A few months into the conflict, the War Office took over the hospital for what was to become a pioneering facility.

Soldiers with no experience of war or at least the scale of war at the front were coming home with symptoms of shell shock – something that was challenging army medical services and overwhelming hospital beds.

Not a lot was known about the condition and doctors came from across the country to Maghull to try different methods of treatment for the soldiers. Some were successful and the building became a focus for psychological medicine in future years. This was not the only centre treating patients with shell shock at the time, but it was possibly one of the first.

The hospital continued to treat mental disorders and moved sites across the road – it is now known as Ashworth Hospital.

Location: Ashworth Hospital (former location of Moss Side Hospital), Parkbourn, Maghull, Liverpool L31 1HW
Image: Moss Side Military Hospital, courtesy of Dr John Rowlands

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