Visited with @Chloe Explores and Ella.
We saw that a few people had been here and me and Chloe tried it on a weekday but there were builders so we returned on a Sunday.
So pleased we managed to explore here, I’ve been watching this place on and off for years but never knew of it being accessible. many many years ago my nan was a patient here after she suffered her third stroke and became agitated and aggressive toward my grandad, I remember going to visit her here, I can’t remember the ward name but remember the long corridors full of seats of pensioners in varying states of what would now be called dementia.
I lost the girls at one point but was quite happy on my own, there’s something quite relaxing walking long corridors on your own. no one bothered us other than a cat who appeared in a window level with the roof. There’s a lot more to explore here that we didn’t get to see so hopefully we can return.
My photos have been compressed by Facebook unfortunately, the originals are on a HDD somewhere.
History -
Springfield Hospital
1841 - current
The Asylum Act, 1808, encouraged the building of public asylums, but the Counties were slow to respond. By 1827 only nine had been built, with the mentally ill continuing to live in the streets, in workhouses or in private madhouses.
In 1838 the Surrey magistrates finally decided to establish a county asylum for the mentally ill poor. To this end, they purchased Springfield Park for £8,985 from Mr Henry Perkins (1779-1855), a wealthy brewer and partner in the firm of Barclay Perkins, who had decided to move to Dover. The estate, with 97 acres of land, was considered an ideal location for the Asylum because of its nearness to population centres, its southerly aspect and clean air, and a suitable water supply. Springfield Park contained an 18th century mansion house, stables and a coach house, as well as farm buildings. The entrance drive was from Aboyne Road. A well was bored in 1839.
By 1840 construction had been completed. It was the 15th asylum to be built. The buildings had cost £67,467 and their furnishings and initial expenses some £7,515. The Asylum had 350 beds and was built to the 'corridor' plan, a state-of-the-art design (ward wings radiated off a long spinal corridor at right-angles). Patients would be diagnosed, classified and sent to designated wards.
The Asylum was built in the Tudor style, with twisted chimneys similiar to those at Hampton Court Palace (these were later removed, being considered dangerous, and not replaced). The facade was patterned with variegated
We saw that a few people had been here and me and Chloe tried it on a weekday but there were builders so we returned on a Sunday.
So pleased we managed to explore here, I’ve been watching this place on and off for years but never knew of it being accessible. many many years ago my nan was a patient here after she suffered her third stroke and became agitated and aggressive toward my grandad, I remember going to visit her here, I can’t remember the ward name but remember the long corridors full of seats of pensioners in varying states of what would now be called dementia.
I lost the girls at one point but was quite happy on my own, there’s something quite relaxing walking long corridors on your own. no one bothered us other than a cat who appeared in a window level with the roof. There’s a lot more to explore here that we didn’t get to see so hopefully we can return.
My photos have been compressed by Facebook unfortunately, the originals are on a HDD somewhere.
History -
Springfield Hospital
1841 - current
The Asylum Act, 1808, encouraged the building of public asylums, but the Counties were slow to respond. By 1827 only nine had been built, with the mentally ill continuing to live in the streets, in workhouses or in private madhouses.
In 1838 the Surrey magistrates finally decided to establish a county asylum for the mentally ill poor. To this end, they purchased Springfield Park for £8,985 from Mr Henry Perkins (1779-1855), a wealthy brewer and partner in the firm of Barclay Perkins, who had decided to move to Dover. The estate, with 97 acres of land, was considered an ideal location for the Asylum because of its nearness to population centres, its southerly aspect and clean air, and a suitable water supply. Springfield Park contained an 18th century mansion house, stables and a coach house, as well as farm buildings. The entrance drive was from Aboyne Road. A well was bored in 1839.
By 1840 construction had been completed. It was the 15th asylum to be built. The buildings had cost £67,467 and their furnishings and initial expenses some £7,515. The Asylum had 350 beds and was built to the 'corridor' plan, a state-of-the-art design (ward wings radiated off a long spinal corridor at right-angles). Patients would be diagnosed, classified and sent to designated wards.
The Asylum was built in the Tudor style, with twisted chimneys similiar to those at Hampton Court Palace (these were later removed, being considered dangerous, and not replaced). The facade was patterned with variegated
