Banstead Hospital Explained

Banstead Hospital
Location:Belmont, Sutton
Region:London
State:England
Country:UK
Healthcare:NHS England
Type:Mental health
Emergency:No
Founded:1877
Closed:1986
Coordinates:51.3355°N -0.1897°W
Map Type:United Kingdom London Sutton

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

History

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

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. News: The Tablet . 9 March 1907 . 25 . Obituary . 27 May 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151009014001/http://archive.thetablet.co.uk/article/9th-march-1907/25/obituar-v . 9 October 2015 . dead .
  2. Web site: Banstead Hospital . Lost Hospitals of London . 27 May 2018.
  3. Sparkes, Roland (2009) Belmont: A Century Ago.
  4. Web site: The asylum architects . Simon Cornwell. 27 May 2018.
  5. Web site: The National Archives | Search the archives | Hospital Records| Details. www.nationalarchives.gov.uk.
  6. Web site: The Lady in the Van. The Script Savant. 18 October 2019.
  7. Web site: Vincent Crane. ColinHarper. 28 February 2020.