If there was ever a competition for places with the most name changes, this place would be a top contender.
The hospital opened as the Surrey County Pauper Lunatic Asylum in 1840. The original building was a grand symmetrical red brick Tudor-style composition enclosing a large courtyard, built to the designs of Edward Lapidge, the county surveyor.
In 1881 a purpose-built chapel was added to the hospital.
In 1888 the hospital came under the management of Middlesex County Council and was re-named the Wandsworth Asylum.
During the First World War it became the Springfield War Hospital and, after the war, it became the Springfield Mental Hospital.
A new infirmary block to treat mentally ill patients who were also physically ill opened in July 1932.
A serious bout of dysentery broke out at the hospital during the Second World War.
The hospital joined the National Health Service in 1948.
In 1967 as a result of the publication of Barbara Robb's book "Sans Everything" the hospital was one of many investigated for ill treatment of patients. The committee found that at least two of the charge nurses showed themselves prone to outbursts of ill-temper which expressed itself in violence.
In 2004 John Barrett, a paranoid schizophrenic, walked out of the hospital and stabbed Dennis Finnegan, a cyclist, to death.
At its heyday the hospital had 2,000 patients but is now reduced to fewer than 300 inpatients. Much of the original hospital building is now disused, and there are plans to convert this to a residential development, "Springfield Village".
The proceeds from this are being used to create new state of the art mental health centres at Springfield and at Tolworth Hospital in Surbiton.
The Explore
After hearing many stories about how it had to be entered in the dark as it had patrolling security etc. I found myself heading around the M25 at an unearthly time of the morning to pick up @Pinkman. See we would have gone the night before but I can do that sleeping in derps thing. I like to have a wash and clean my teeth in the morning
So that was it picked Pinkman up and roughly 4:15, made the short trip to Tooting, parked up and made our way in. Having already done a reccy here back in the winter I knew how to get in and that didn’t take long.
This place is really ace, like really really ace.
Full of peely paint and general derpness. It’s also surprisingly intact for something that has been empty for so long. There are reports on here from as far back as 2009 and as you can see the place has hardly changed.
It does however have a few bags of very recent bags of rubbish on the upper floors, Pringles tubes, costa cups and the like…..
Anyway enough of my ramblings check out this load of derpy goodness
The hospital opened as the Surrey County Pauper Lunatic Asylum in 1840. The original building was a grand symmetrical red brick Tudor-style composition enclosing a large courtyard, built to the designs of Edward Lapidge, the county surveyor.
In 1881 a purpose-built chapel was added to the hospital.
In 1888 the hospital came under the management of Middlesex County Council and was re-named the Wandsworth Asylum.
During the First World War it became the Springfield War Hospital and, after the war, it became the Springfield Mental Hospital.
A new infirmary block to treat mentally ill patients who were also physically ill opened in July 1932.
A serious bout of dysentery broke out at the hospital during the Second World War.
The hospital joined the National Health Service in 1948.
In 1967 as a result of the publication of Barbara Robb's book "Sans Everything" the hospital was one of many investigated for ill treatment of patients. The committee found that at least two of the charge nurses showed themselves prone to outbursts of ill-temper which expressed itself in violence.
In 2004 John Barrett, a paranoid schizophrenic, walked out of the hospital and stabbed Dennis Finnegan, a cyclist, to death.
At its heyday the hospital had 2,000 patients but is now reduced to fewer than 300 inpatients. Much of the original hospital building is now disused, and there are plans to convert this to a residential development, "Springfield Village".
The proceeds from this are being used to create new state of the art mental health centres at Springfield and at Tolworth Hospital in Surbiton.
The Explore
After hearing many stories about how it had to be entered in the dark as it had patrolling security etc. I found myself heading around the M25 at an unearthly time of the morning to pick up @Pinkman. See we would have gone the night before but I can do that sleeping in derps thing. I like to have a wash and clean my teeth in the morning
So that was it picked Pinkman up and roughly 4:15, made the short trip to Tooting, parked up and made our way in. Having already done a reccy here back in the winter I knew how to get in and that didn’t take long.
This place is really ace, like really really ace.
Full of peely paint and general derpness. It’s also surprisingly intact for something that has been empty for so long. There are reports on here from as far back as 2009 and as you can see the place has hardly changed.
It does however have a few bags of very recent bags of rubbish on the upper floors, Pringles tubes, costa cups and the like…..
Anyway enough of my ramblings check out this load of derpy goodness
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