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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Bedlam
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The common name in past centuries for the Bethlehem Royal Hospital, which from the 14C was London's main lunatic asylum. The Priory of St Mary Bethlehem in Bishopsgate had been its first home (the site is now Liverpool Street Station); from 1676 it was in a vast building in Moorfields, where it became a fashionable pastime for visitors to marvel at the lunatics; it moved in 1815 to what is now the *Imperial War Museum, and in 1930 to Beckenham. Today it is run jointly with the *Maudsley. For some considerable time (either causing the popular corruption or in response to it) its official name has been the Bethlem Royal Hospital.
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