A Thornbury building has been transformed in to a Victoria asylum for a new film.

The Chantry is being used as Coney Hill Hospital, the setting of dark drama film The Invisible War.

The Castle Street listed building has been doubling as the Gloucestershire asylum whilst filming was taking place over the last six months.

Created by West Country filmmakers Adam Morgan and Pippa Stephens, the film tells the story of one of Adam’s relatives, Cynthia Dash, who was detained in the Gloucestershire mental institution in the 1940s.

Suffering from depression, Cynthia was incarcerated in Gloucester's Coney Hill for six years before contracting tuberculosis and dying at the age of 23.

Adam discovered Cynthia’s story while researching his family tree in 2010.

“I think people can learn a lot about the lack of treatment available in those days before the NHS was founded, and way before we started looking at depression as a very real illness.”

“Cynthia should not really have been in that place, she should have had the support needed, but this was in a time when so little was known about behaviour, and mental health issues.

“A film that is set in such a bleak location has to come across bleak on film. Finding locations that are open to filming has been tough, but thankfully we have had some really supportive people agree to us using their property.

“The Chantry has acted as Coney Hill Hospital, due to its old looking windows, and long corridors. We have also shot a great deal in Cirencester at a property owned by the parents of cast member Olivia Maiden.

Pippa added: “There are so many stories which lie untold, hidden in the shame of the asylums.

“People who should never have been incarcerated. Families who lost members because they were told it was the ‘right’ thing to do.”

The short film is set for release in 2020.