The hospital, which was designed by Henry Smyth, was opened as the Down Lunatic Asylum in 1869.[1][2] It was extended in 1883, 1895 and 1904.[2] It became the Down Mental Hospital in the 1920s and joined the National Health Service as Downshire Hospital in 1948.[2] Following the introduction of Care in the Community in the early 1980s, the hospital went into a period of decline and provision for patients reduced from over 300 beds to just 16.[3] Part of the building was subsequently converted for use as offices for Down District Council who began operating there in October 2012.[4]
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