Elizabeth Crichton memorial

The Crichton Campus, Dumfries
Open competition

Dimensions: 2m high
Date: 2000
Media: bronze figure on stone disc

Brief: to make a bronze portrait of Elizabeth Crichton (1779-1862) based on a painting from 1870.

The commission was established to commemorate Elizabeth Crichton who attempted to establish a fifth university in Scotland. The idea met with heavy opposition and finally Westminster refused permission. She then went on to establish the Crichton Royal Hospital, one of the first psychiatric asylums in the country, which eventually became one of the most respected and forward looking hospital institutions of its time. Ironically the buildings and grounds have now been taken over and established as a university campus.