It’s been a while since I’ve been out an about, no better way than to get back to one of the best asylum sites in the UK. It’s well over a year since my last visit and a bit longer again since I spent a whole day at West Park. It won’t be long till demolition starts and the place has suffered in the past year.
West Park Asylum (or West Park Hospital) was a large psychiatric hospital in Epsom, Surrey. The hospital was designed by William C Clifford-Smith (architect to the London County Council), who was also involved in the design of nearby St Ebba’s Hospital. The hospital had been in planning since 1906, and by 1917 it was largely complete; However, the outbreak of war postponed opening until 1923.
The hospital was slowly run down from the mid 1990’s, and by 2003 most of the hospital was closed and derelict. A few outer ward buildings and villas remain open today, still used for pshyciatric treatment.
The hospital was the last great London asylum, and the last of the Epsom Cluster, a group of 5 mental institutes (the others being Horton, Manor, Long Grove and St Ebba’s.) The asylum follows the compact arrow design, with external villas.
3 Comments