Palace of the Kip Valley

Is an exciting project engaging local groups to come together and research, share and celebrate the heritage of the Smithston Asylum and Poorhouse. For 150 years the magnificent building served the local community and met milestones along its timeline including service through both World Wars. The 12-month project will be focussed on establishing a digital platform which would act as a repository for our collection of photographs, newspaper articles and stories gathered through reminscence sessions with the wider community. We worked with a graphic designer to produce a booklet which will be distributed throughout the community.

For many, the Poorhouse stood as a symbol of poverty, a last resort for people who had nowhere else to turn for help. Part of the project was to research that evolution and milestone moments which has shaped many people’s memories and recent memories of the building, also known as Ravenscraig Hospital, and share the tangible history of the poorhouse, people and places spanning 150 years.