THE HISTORY
The information on this place has been surprisingly lacking, appearing to have largely fallen out of the eye of both explorers and historians alike. It seems to have opened at the turn of the 20th century, but no source seems to quite agree when. It opened as a colony-style institution designed to provide disadvantaged men with an education in agricultural skills, hence why it is sometimes referred to as a ‘school’. Not dissimilar in its role to the Mental Deficiency Colonies, although it was a private establishment rather than being administered by county authority. After some use as a WW1 rehabilitation centre, the colony changed name to Lingfield Hospital School for Epileptic Children, with adult residents being moved to the present National Society for Epilepsy in Buckinghamshire. The hospital remained as a private establishment, never falling into the hands of the NHS. In 1972, young people with other neurological conditions other than epilepsy began being admitted, and in 1989 the hospital changed name to St. Piers. The hospital appears to have been gradually added to over the years right up until recent times, and whilst part of it appears to still be in use, a large amount of it likely closed in the last few years. Many of the buildings that we looked at dated from the early and mid 20th century, and if I had to guess I’d say 1920s is when a lot was built.
An aerial probably from the 1960s
Given that there wasn’t much info about this place online, I decided to look at the highly expensive book Hospital and Asylum Architecture in England 1840-1914: Building for Health Care by Jeremy Taylor which contains a gazetteer of such places. The hospital is recorded as Lingfield Home for Epileptic Children, opening sometime in the 1900s. It was a special nervous institution and one of many epileptic institutions opened in the early 20th century, including the more widely known Chalfont St. Peters. Lingfield was designed by TP Figgs and AE Munby, who also designed the Cassel Hospital for Nervous Disorders at Penhurst, Kent. I also found a bit more info online here which tells you about the organisation of the hospital school: https://www.bmj.com/content/1/2422/1316
Children in a classroom at an epileptic institution; potentially Lingfield
The information on this place has been surprisingly lacking, appearing to have largely fallen out of the eye of both explorers and historians alike. It seems to have opened at the turn of the 20th century, but no source seems to quite agree when. It opened as a colony-style institution designed to provide disadvantaged men with an education in agricultural skills, hence why it is sometimes referred to as a ‘school’. Not dissimilar in its role to the Mental Deficiency Colonies, although it was a private establishment rather than being administered by county authority. After some use as a WW1 rehabilitation centre, the colony changed name to Lingfield Hospital School for Epileptic Children, with adult residents being moved to the present National Society for Epilepsy in Buckinghamshire. The hospital remained as a private establishment, never falling into the hands of the NHS. In 1972, young people with other neurological conditions other than epilepsy began being admitted, and in 1989 the hospital changed name to St. Piers. The hospital appears to have been gradually added to over the years right up until recent times, and whilst part of it appears to still be in use, a large amount of it likely closed in the last few years. Many of the buildings that we looked at dated from the early and mid 20th century, and if I had to guess I’d say 1920s is when a lot was built.
An aerial probably from the 1960s
Given that there wasn’t much info about this place online, I decided to look at the highly expensive book Hospital and Asylum Architecture in England 1840-1914: Building for Health Care by Jeremy Taylor which contains a gazetteer of such places. The hospital is recorded as Lingfield Home for Epileptic Children, opening sometime in the 1900s. It was a special nervous institution and one of many epileptic institutions opened in the early 20th century, including the more widely known Chalfont St. Peters. Lingfield was designed by TP Figgs and AE Munby, who also designed the Cassel Hospital for Nervous Disorders at Penhurst, Kent. I also found a bit more info online here which tells you about the organisation of the hospital school: https://www.bmj.com/content/1/2422/1316
Children in a classroom at an epileptic institution; potentially Lingfield
THE EXPLORE
As all good stories do, it all began with seeing a picture of a padded cell online. After some discussion and brain-wracking with Mockney, who pointed out that the padding in the background contained something that resembled a Pocock-style panel with an observation hole, we couldn’t think where it might be. I scoured a list of closed mental institutions and couldn’t seem to find any that fitted the bill, except for St. Peters in Chertsey which turned out to be largely demo’d. He eventually got a tip off that it was Lingfield, and so a trip was arranged with @mockney reject , @KPUrban_ and @Seffy.
It appears Lingfield has largely escaped people’s attention, and hence its abandonment seems to have gone unnoticed by explorers for some time. Upon reaching the buildings, we soon found the condition was a fair bit worse than hoped. Unfortunately by now, a lot of it has been absolutely trashed by local yoofs. A 12 year old girl stomping round with a two-metre metal bar in a gang of trackie’d-up kids gives you an idea of the situation here. KP managed to give them a good scare at one point, although when we saw them walking off down the access road we thought we better go and keep an eye on Mockney’s car. Bloody kids! Otherwise it was a pretty chill explore with lots of buildings being wide open and little stopping us. This is probably gonna be one of those reports where I make it look better than it is.
The main complex of buildings at the front, which seems to have been a mix of staff accomodation, classrooms and potentially admin.
Facing from the 1950s dated extension to the original building.
1988
Classrooms and workshops inside the original building
Poor Josh
View towards the hall clocktower
Such Edwardian screened doors always give me an asylum vibe
Potential boardroom or important office in the potential admin
Modern foyer
