The Government Asylum period was one of great change to the site. With the rate of admissions growing steadily, the main hospital building was in need of extension and more permanent additions to accommodate the increasing numbers of inmates requiring care. The surviving wings flanking the main building (Blocks A & C) were designed by Edmund Blacket and constructed in 1866 and 1874, respectively. In an effort to be architecturally sympathetic to the design of the main hospital building, Blacket constructed these two-storey brick and slate wings to complement, without detracting from, the dominant physical presence of the 1820s hospital building (Block B).
