Claybury Asylum
Encyclopedia
Claybury Asylum was a psychiatric hospital
at Woodford Bridge
in Essex
. It was opened in 1893 making it the fifth London County Council
Asylum
.
; Peter Cracknell describes it as the first Compact Arrow design. Situated on the brow of a hill, the site incorporated around 50 acres (202,343 m²) of ancient woodland and 95 acres (384,451.7 m²) of open parkland, ponds, pasture and historic gardens. These had been designed in 1789 by the landscape architect Sir Humphry Repton
for the owner, James Hatch, of what was then called the Claybury Estate. "Claybury" was the name given to a fictitious village in the stories of W. W. Jacobs
, but is generally thought to be based on nearby Loughton
, where Jacobs lived.
From 1893 it was known as London County Lunatic Asylum, Ilford.
Programme and the inevitable decline in patient numbers from its peak of 4,000 patients, Claybury faced a difficult future. The NHS
pressed for extensive demolition and maximum new build, whereas the Local Planning Authority and English Heritage argued for maximum retention of the historic buildings and restriction of new build to the existing footprint, in accordance with the Green Belt
allocation in the Unitary Development Plan.
A 60 day Public Inquiry was held in 1997 and the Council/English Heritage position was accepted. The hospital was shut down and converted into luxury flats called Repton Park by Crest Nicholson
, working closely with English Heritage
and the London Wildlife Trust
.
sightings at the site, (such as tall men) both while it was still a mental hospital and more recently as the Repton Park developmenthttp://ghosthounds.com/article233.html. In Rodinsky's Room
, a book by Iain Sinclair
and Rachel Lichtenstein
about David Rodinsky, they mark the tower at L. C. C. Claybury Mental Hospital, as the "fixed compass-point from which Rodinsky drew his circuits of London. All his maps were based on that sightline" (Dark Lanthorns 32). As a result of Lichtenstein's research, we learn that this is the hospital where Rodinsky's sister, Bessie, was sectioned, a fate that would befall Rodinsky himself when the authorities forced him out of his home on Princelet Street, setting in motion a series of events that led to his eventual entry into a mental institution in Surrey
(Long Grove Hospital
), where he later died of heart failure.
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
at Woodford Bridge
Woodford Bridge
Woodford Bridge is a suburb of north-east London, England in the London Borough of Redbridge. It includes Monkhams. It is on an old road between Chigwell and Leytonstone....
in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
. It was opened in 1893 making it the fifth London County Council
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
Asylum
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
.
History
Claybury was built from 1889-1893.The land was previously used for chickens.The architect was George Thomas HineG. T. Hine
George Thomas Hine was an English architect.Son of Thomas Chambers Hine of Nottingham, with whom he was in partnership up to 1891. Hine specialized in asylum architecture, and his paper to the RIBA in 1901 still provides a valuable review of asylum design and planning...
; Peter Cracknell describes it as the first Compact Arrow design. Situated on the brow of a hill, the site incorporated around 50 acres (202,343 m²) of ancient woodland and 95 acres (384,451.7 m²) of open parkland, ponds, pasture and historic gardens. These had been designed in 1789 by the landscape architect Sir Humphry Repton
Humphry Repton
Humphry Repton was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown; he also sowed the seeds of the more intricate and eclectic styles of the 19th century...
for the owner, James Hatch, of what was then called the Claybury Estate. "Claybury" was the name given to a fictitious village in the stories of W. W. Jacobs
W. W. Jacobs
William Wymark Jacobs , was an English author of short stories and novels.-Writings:Jacobs is now remembered for his macabre tale "The Monkey's Paw" and "The Toll House"...
, but is generally thought to be based on nearby Loughton
Loughton
Loughton is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex. It is located between 11 and 13 miles north east of Charing Cross in London, south of the M25 and west of the M11 motorway and has boundaries with Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill...
, where Jacobs lived.
From 1893 it was known as London County Lunatic Asylum, Ilford.
Closure
With the Care in the CommunityCare in the Community
Care in the Community is the British policy of deinstitutionalization, treating and caring for physically and mentally disabled people in their homes rather than in an institution...
Programme and the inevitable decline in patient numbers from its peak of 4,000 patients, Claybury faced a difficult future. The NHS
National Health Service (England)
The National Health Service or NHS is the publicly funded healthcare system in England. It is both the largest and oldest single-payer healthcare system in the world. It is able to function in the way that it does because it is primarily funded through the general taxation system, similar to how...
pressed for extensive demolition and maximum new build, whereas the Local Planning Authority and English Heritage argued for maximum retention of the historic buildings and restriction of new build to the existing footprint, in accordance with the Green Belt
Green belt
A green belt or greenbelt is a policy and land use designation used in land use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighbouring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges which have a linear character and may run through an...
allocation in the Unitary Development Plan.
A 60 day Public Inquiry was held in 1997 and the Council/English Heritage position was accepted. The hospital was shut down and converted into luxury flats called Repton Park by Crest Nicholson
Crest Nicholson
Crest Nicholson is a British housebuilding company based in Chertsey, Surrey.-History:The Company was founded by Bryan Skinner in 1963 as Crest Homes and floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1968. One of the characteristics that differentiated Crest from most other housebuilders of the time was...
, working closely with English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
and the London Wildlife Trust
London Wildlife Trust
London Wildlife Trust was founded in 1981. It is one of 47 members of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts , each of which is a local nature conservation charity for its area....
.
Ghosts
There have been many reported ghostGhost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
sightings at the site, (such as tall men) both while it was still a mental hospital and more recently as the Repton Park developmenthttp://ghosthounds.com/article233.html. In Rodinsky's Room
Rodinsky's Room
Rodinsky's Room is a non-fiction book by Rachel Lichtenstein and Iain Sinclair. It is an oral history of the neighbourhood of Spitalfields in the East End of London...
, a book by Iain Sinclair
Iain Sinclair
Iain Sinclair FRSL is a British writer and filmmaker. Much of his work is rooted in London, most recently within the influences of psychogeography.-Life and work:...
and Rachel Lichtenstein
Rachel Lichtenstein
Rachel Lichtenstein is a writer, artist and archivist.In 1999 she wrote, with Iain Sinclair Rodinsky's Room, since then she has published Rodinsky's Whitechapel , and On Brick Lane...
about David Rodinsky, they mark the tower at L. C. C. Claybury Mental Hospital, as the "fixed compass-point from which Rodinsky drew his circuits of London. All his maps were based on that sightline" (Dark Lanthorns 32). As a result of Lichtenstein's research, we learn that this is the hospital where Rodinsky's sister, Bessie, was sectioned, a fate that would befall Rodinsky himself when the authorities forced him out of his home on Princelet Street, setting in motion a series of events that led to his eventual entry into a mental institution in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
(Long Grove Hospital
Long Grove Hospital
Long Grove Hospital used to be a mental hospital in Epsom, Surrey in the United Kingdom.It was designed by George Thomas Hine. Patients include Josef Hassid , Ronnie Kray and George Pelham .The hospital closed in 1992 and has since been converted into Clarendon...
), where he later died of heart failure.