Banstead Hospital, also known as Banstead Asylum, was a psychiatric hospital in the village of Belmont, Sutton, adjacent to Banstead.

Banstead Hospital
Banstead Hospital
Banstead Hospital is located in London Borough of Sutton
Banstead Hospital
Location within Sutton
Geography
LocationBelmont, Sutton, London, England, United Kingdom
Coordinates51°20′08″N 0°11′23″W / 51.3355°N 0.1897°W / 51.3355; -0.1897
Organisation
Care systemNHS England
TypeMental health
Services
Emergency departmentNo Accident & Emergency
History
Opened1877
Closed1986
Links
ListsHospitals in England

History

edit

The hospital was commissioned by the Middlesex Court of Magistrates, as the Third Middlesex County Asylum. The hospital was designed by Frederick Hyde Pownall,[1] and opened with accommodation for 1,700 patients in 1877.[2] Two more blocks were added in 1881, and in 1889 it came under the auspices of London County Council.[3] Spurs to two of the blocks, based on a design by George Thomas Hine,[4] were added in 1893.[2]

The facility became the Banstead Mental Hospital in 1918[5] and, after a nurses' home was added in 1931, it became Banstead Hospital in 1937.[2] It joined the National Health Service in 1948.[2] In 1967 it split into the Downview Hospital, a facility for adult mental disorders, and the Freedown Hospital, a facility for tuberculosis treatment.[2] It closed in 1986 and was largely demolished in 1989;[2] the site is now occupied by HM Prison High Down.[2]

Notable patients

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Obituary". The Tablet. 9 March 1907. p. 25. Archived from the original on 9 October 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Banstead Hospital". Lost Hospitals of London. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  3. ^ Sparkes, Roland (2009) Belmont: A Century Ago.
  4. ^ "The asylum architects". Simon Cornwell. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  5. ^ "The National Archives | Search the archives | Hospital Records| Details". www.nationalarchives.gov.uk.
  6. ^ "The Lady in the Van" (PDF). The Script Savant. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  7. ^ "Vincent Crane". ColinHarper. Retrieved 28 February 2020.

Further reading

edit
  • Edwards, Gareth (1959). The Story of Belmont Hospital 1853-1959.