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View Full Version : Archived: Claybury Asylum - London - Summer '09



S8
03-02-2010, 09:09 PM
Well, this was another one of my summer missions - I thought this would be a turn up and take photos affair, but being a gated community I was stopped at the gate and asked what I was doing. And promptly told that I would have to get permission from management and the residence commitee before they would let me through. And considering some of the poeple who live the (I waved at Ronnie O'Sullivan lol) I thought I best had.

Anyway, after a few short emails, this is what I saw:

History:

Before the Local Government Act was passed in 1888, Middlesex controlled most of the land to the north of the River Thames and at this time they were planning their fourth County Asylum - after Hanwell and Friern Barnet and Banstead. The Middlesex Justices chose the site of Claybury Hall at Woodford Bridge for the home of their new Asylum, which was situated on he top of a hill and within 269 acres of land, the Asylums itself had over 20 acres of floor space. The Justices ran a competition in 1886/7 for the Asylum design, and the soon to become prominent architect, George Thomas Hine, beat off 6 others entrants to win. He did this with his pioneering Compact Arrow Design which laid out the Asylum in a smaller and more logical layout than seen before - although arguably Cane Hill and High Royds Asylums were also revolutionary as they had similar layouts, but were opened earlier. Claybury was also one of the first Asylums in the country to incorporate a laboratory to try and determine the pathology of mental illness.

Building work began on the 1st of October, 1887, with 100000 cubic yards of soil being removed from the summit of the hill to level the ground out. The contractor was paid £1,500 to do this, but the work actually cost them £1,800. During this time, the entire estate was ringed with a 2.5 mile fence and in March 1888, the two gate houses were built. These were occupied by the architect, Hine, and the Clerk of Work Mr Wise. The laying of the foundations began in June 1888 and the work was contracted to Howell & Son of Bristol. By the end of the year the company had been liquidated and building work stopped in December that year with only a third of the work being completed. This left Hine with a predicament of covering over the works to protect them from the winter weather, the walls were left exposed and much damage was caused. Matters were further complicated when the London County Council was formed and took charge of the Asylum construction. The formation made Claybury the fifth asylum to be within the control of London. The LCC immediately reappointed Hine as lead architect on the project. Work on finalising the foundations was completed.

The Construction of the main buildings contract was awarded to Mr Gabbutt of Liverpool; the contract was worth £337,945. The construction saw an amazing amount of material used; 27 million bricks were laid, 2,600 doors, 4,600 windows and 33 miles of service pipe works. In 1891 it was decided to repair and extend the original estate building for conversion to a private asylum. This was an annexe to the main asylum and was an attempt by the LCC to provide Asylum for wealthier lunatics who couldn't afford the full private care. They inmates were charged 30 shillings a week if they were residents from London. At the same time, the LCC decided that they would not use Gas as the primary light source within the hospital, but install lighting throughout. This was the first Asylum to do so, and with the design being directed by the LCC, with plans inherited from Middlesex, the asylum was outfitted to a high standard, with oak panelling and stained glass adorning many buildings throughout the site. The original idea from the Middlesex Justices was to move away from the 'poor-law' image that was associated with the Asylum system. The construction of the Hospital was finished in 1893 and the first patients were admitted on the 16th of May that year, reaching the total capacity of 2500 patients three years after opening. The final cost of the Asylum, after building and fitting out with equipment came to £579,303.

Claybury was one of the first Asylums to incorporate a research building into Mental Diseases, the LCC appointed one Dr F. Mott to hold the first post. He published his findings from his research at Claybury between 1903 and 1922 and during this time he investigated over 3,000 cases. He discovered that the 'General paralysis of the Insane' was directly linked to Syphilis, along with identifying that mental health problems could lay dormant over a number of generations.

By the 1930's, the reputation of Claybury Hospital had become world renowned and experienced visitors from as far away as the USA and Japan; at the same time the hospital under went a period of expansion. This saw the construction of an admission centre, nurses accommodation and a new operation theatre; this was the first expansion of Claybury as the development of the Horton Estate did not necessitate any further work. With the creation of the NHS, the hospital was transferred away from London County Council control and in the time between 1954 and the early 70's the population declined by over 1000 patients and with this, the hospital moved towards mixed sex wards. During the late 60's and early 70s the hospital saw expansion with facilities for nurses being improved greatly.

By the mid 80's, the NHS had outlined the closure of both Friern & Claybury with laundry services being shut on both sites; the main services of the wards were concentrated to the south of the hospital and the wards at the north laying empty. The Hospital finally shut its doors in 1997. At this point the NHS pushed to have the maximum amount of the site demolished, with little being retained, however English Heritage and the local planning authority wanted maximum retention. Claybury was, and still is, considered one of the most important Asylums to be built since 1875 with respect to its architecture. After a consultation period was held in 1997 it was decided to convert the site to housing, with the majority of the wards being Grade II listed and converted; only the services and a few northern wards were demolished. The water tower was converted to a single dwelling over eight floors and the Hall & Chapel has been converted to a gym and pool. The site is now known as Repton Park and is a gated community.


The gate house,

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One of the three water towers, male side

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A few wards, slightly editted because I felt like experimenting (thoughts?)

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The Hall, Chapel and Tower - the tower is a single apartment, the Hall is totally listed, with the interier preserved, but with a few alterations and the chapel is now a pool, I did see them, but they said no to photos...


http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y136/mixologist/Image00009-2.jpg

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Male Acute Block, looking towards the Chronic Block


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Male Sick & Inform Block


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Male Epileptic Block


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Water Tower & Main Hall


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Female Sick & Infirm Block


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Looking towards Female Chronic Block from Sick & Infirm Block


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Female Chronic Block, with secondary Water Tower


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Looking down the Female side from Chronic Block


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Assistant Officers Block & Water Tower


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Assistant Officers Block & Water Tower and rear of Chronic Block


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Female Epileptic Block


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Female Airing court, at a guess, for Epleptic Block (?)


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And finally the Coat of Arms of Middlesex, odd considering this is a London Asylum (design and construction where done for middlesex, hence why the building is a little grand lol)


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S8
03-02-2010, 09:10 PM
I went back at a later date to photograph the admin block and super's house, I was fortunate enough to meet with the Author of the historical book on Claybury, Eric, who worked at the hopsital from before the N.H.S. was created. The words within this report are both from himself, and his wife, who shut the hospital down.

Apparently, Claybury wasn't left as a bare shell when she closed the final doors. The went through each ward and removed every item, some for auctino, some for archive, and some was for staff or patients. They handed each ward to the gaurds as it closed, who then sealed them, apparently the locals were up at the site instantly looking for things to take, but because EH and the staff had pride in the buildings, they got away with little - the only thing that was removed were the brass door surrounds.


The Nurses Qualification Badge
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It (Claybury) was a fantstic place and we were very sorry to see it go, although it had to. When I joined there were 2500 patients and this setup obviouslt couldn't be finacially maintained and this is why it had to go. But it was a glorious place for people who where mentally ill, because they could go out onto the grounds and wander around and go down to the forest, they were completely safe. I was pleased to learn that it was going to be used for a new use, in a way I was frightened that it would become derelict, with vandals burning the place to the ground.

You know the wood panelling? That was through out the hopsital, it was everywhere - each ward was clad in the stuff. It was sad to see it removed, but it had to be, because it was a major fire risk. The panels took a while to remove because they were 2 inches of solid oak!


The Foundation Stone
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It was a shame that the corridors were removed, it has taken away the personality of the building, but they were not practical for any future use. When they demolished them, they pushed them into the service tunnels to back fill them.

In the winter, the corridors could be used for recreation, they were large enough that patients cold socialise in them. More than one nurse had commented that they wanted to drive their cars down them. The patients also used the corridors for exercise, some would run the run the corridors on their side to keep fit! Everything on the site could be used for theraputic means and get people away from the wards. We would let people out for a certain amount of time so that they could carry out a task under their own terms - in doing this we were teaching them time management and a skill they could use on the outside. Even before the thought of Care in the Community, we were thinking of there integration into society.


The SuperIntendents House & Chapel
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When I joined I started on a ward of one hundred patients, it was quite something, however, 40 of them were sent to the landry for work. During the day they were treated like normal workers, even if you had washed and dressed them in the morning. Along with the Laundry, the Needle Room was also very popular, and the patients who worked there were very skilled. They kept the hospital clothed!



The Admin Block
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Finally, an birds eye view of how the hospital looked...


http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y136/mixologist/3238339745_836142692d_o.jpg

There are also some archive photos HERE on my website (http://www.thetimechamber.co.uk/sites/Hospital/Claybury/Archive/Archive.php)

S8 :)