Dr Strange, a hero of Shropshire healthcare

Its colourful significance, intricate past, and stories – both good and bad – have been deeply engrained in the county's history.

Shortly before Christmas it emerged that the historic hospital, in Shrewsbury, could now lie redundant for more than three years after health bosses admitted its future use had been 'hampered' by the poor economic climate.

Shelton was closed in September as the town's new £46 million Redwoods Centre opened. Health chiefs said plans for its future use were 'actively' being considered, but have now acknowledged it is not possible to put in place a timescale to transform the historic building.

So, while its future remains uncertain, Shelton's past is fascinating. I have dived into the building's heritage head first and grasped a handful of its times gone by from the information that exists scattered throughout the country.

With the closure of the landmark Shrewsbury building comes a sense of a loss of its flavoured past. A tiny glimpse into the life of this asylum in

Victorian England recalls a time when the words 'insanity' and 'idiocy' were commonplace – and yet an institution was built to help the mentally ill.

Mental illness was a barely existent notion in the Victorian era. For most it was an affliction requiring hiding or locking away of those afflicted.

Where? Indeed, in institutions such as Shelton Hospital. This was a place where patients could gain some respite, some peace from their hectic lives in the surrounding villages and towns. It allowed for them to be "treated" by very limited remedies available and to build a day-to-day routine.

Let me introduce you to Dr Arthur Strange – a name you are most likely to be unfamiliar with. Dr Strange was appointed as the fourth superintendent of Salop and Montgomery County Lunatic Asylum (later Shelton Hospital) in 1872. He led it from the helm and was accountable to the committee and board overseeing its governance and financial affairs.

He graduated in 1867 from the University of Edinburgh, taking a keen interest in "lunacy" early on, when he wrote his thesis on "Diet, Including the Diet of the Insane". His career took him to Colney Hatch Asylum (now in the London Borough of Barnet), Leavesden Asylum (outskirts of Abbots Langley), Cheshire County Asylum, Gloucestershire County Asylum and then finally to Bicton, near Shrewsbury.

He married Emma Elizabeth Williams, and they had seven children together, most of whom were born in Shrewsbury. They all lived under one roof at the lunatic asylum in the superintendent's headquarters where this institution formed a major part of their everyday lives.

How would it have been to work in such a place in the late 1800s? How would it have been to be a patient there at that time? It was a time when the rest of the medical world hadn't even been introduced to antibiotics, or X-rays. A time when physical illness was a mystery most of the time – let alone mental illness. There was no national health service and each institution largely worked independently.

Dr Strange, a man whose father had been president of the British Medical Association and superintendent of Powick Asylum, championed the care of the mentally ill. He would later be described as a man who "had to be known to be fully appreciated", a man who spoke fearlessly in defence of his institutions and the workings within.

He was described as being opinionated, and once his mind was made up, he would be uncompromising in his response. He was not widely read or obsessed with scientific trends, but he spent his time putting all of his energy into his asylum and to making it as up-to-date as possible.

In 1895 he was forced to take seven months off "sick" from the asylum with a devilish illness, termed erysipelas: a bacterial infection requiring antibiotic treatment in a time where such medicines did not exist.

He returned to work as soon as he could, encouraging patients to become involved in activities within the grounds – be it sport, gardening, music and so on.

In 1902, Dr Strange became gravely unwell with probable high fevers, not eating or drinking and head pains. His family remained by his side as he passed away in the asylum aged 58 years, with a recorded cause of death being meningitis. His name – historical. His work – unappreciated, until now. I have uncovered an aspect of Dr Strange's life as both a person and a leader of an institution that would advance rapidly in the years following his death.

The doors have closed, yet its history lives on. Casebooks and other records remain scattered throughout across United Kingdom, many have been lost or destroyed.

Dr Strange was one man who fought for 'his asylum' and dedicated his life to it. As the new facility opens its doors, it is important to remember where we were and from where we have come, and characters such as Dr Strange who have shaped the landscape of mental health locally.