yards considered essential to the design of such wards at the time. The wards were unusual in that they were two of the few attached to Mental Hospitals and as such posed the architectural challenge of ensuring patients remained confined and isolated from the broader population while still providing access the therapeutic effects of sunlight and fresh air. The majority of the buildings were created in the period up to 1935. The War years saw characteristic shortages at the hospital including the dearth of male staff members. This was coupled with an influx of patients from Kenmore which was used for military purposes and resulted in overcrowding for the patients and an increasing workload for the mainly female staff. Overcrowding remained a difficulty after the war and there was little progress in the development of effective treatments or the improvement of facilities at the Orange Mental Hospital. During the 1950s new behaviour stabilising drug treatments such as largactil and lithium and the provision of community care to patients were implemented to reduce the demand for mental hospital accommodation. Nevertheless, Bloomfield, as Orange Mental Hospital was renamed in 1954, remained a large hospital with a routine of therapeutic treatments and activities. The emphasis creating links with the local community through sporting and cultural activities was continued at this time with the establishment of a Dramatic Society which involved patients and staff in regular productions. Performances were attended by those associated with the hospital and members of the wider Orange Community. The Society was the precursor to the recently formed, semi-professional Orange Theatre Company. During the 1960s another incentive to promote patient integration into the community was the establishment of a Bloomfield Branch of the Country Women's Association. Patients belonging to the Branch to participate in choral and drama performance and various fund raising activities. In 1965 a nine-hole golf course was established on the site, a third sporting field Pringle Park was established just below the Male Wards and a new laundry complex servicing the Central West area hospitals was built. In 1983 the Richmond Report recommended a major overhaul of the operation of Mental Health Services which focused on separating services for the mentally ill and those with developmental disability and the rehabilitation those with mental illness back into the community with the support of community services. In the mid 1980s the Admission and Convalescent Sections of Bloomfield were "removed