The abandonment wheel

The centuries-old history of hospitals is characterized by the dual concept of individual protection and the protection of society. Charity, of religious inspiration is the basis of the history of the Hôtel-Dieu hospitals. Beneficence carried out by the state and public authorities including local authorities is the source of Hospices and General Hospitals; beyond care, the concept of hospitality prevails.

The care of abandoned children dear to Saint Vincent de Paul is also a mission and a historic vocation of hospitals.

The walls of Charles Nicolle Hospital still bear the remnants of this period. To the left of the entrance, there is a “wheel” which is of hole in the wall with a revolving cylinder placed under a zinc shelter lit with a lantern. From 1758 to 1873, children will be anonymously dropped off and abandoned there and entrusted to the care of the General Hospice.

The Registers of these abandoned children often contain cloth squares which were sometimes used to identify them. Parents could in fact come back and claim their child with the other part of the piece of cloth which was at that time a sign of recognition and a proof of parentage.

The wheel will receive on average 678 children per year with a record of 943 abandonments in 1831.