Horton Hospital formerly called Horton Asylum was a large

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociat ...

in the Horton area of

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

, Surrey.

History

Origins

The hospital was designed for the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

George Thomas Hine George Thomas Hine FRIBA (1842–25 April 1916) was an English architect. His prolific output included new county asylums for Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire, Surrey, East Sussex and Worcestershire, as well as extensive additions to many others. Bi ...

, consultant architect to the

Commissioners in Lunacy The Commissioners in Lunacy or Lunacy Commission were a public body established by the Lunacy Act 1845 to oversee asylums and the welfare of mentally ill people in England and Wales. It succeeded the Metropolitan Commissioners in Lunacy. Previ ...

to the

), following a Compact Arrow plan first used at Bexley Asylum at

Bexley Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Ch ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. It was opened in 1902 and was the second hospital in the

Epsom Cluster The Epsom Cluster, also referred to as the Horton Estate, was a cluster or group of five large psychiatric hospitals situated on land to the west of Epsom. The hospitals were built by the London County Council to alleviate pressure on London's e ...

, a group of five mental institutions on the Horton Estate to the west of

. During the two World Wars the hospital was commandeered as a

military hospital A military hospital is a hospital owned and operated by a military. They are often reserved for the use of military personnel and their dependents, but in some countries are made available to civilians as well. They may or may not be located on a ...

and the existing patients were transferred elsewhere.

Malaria research

For much of the 20th century the hospital played an important role in the development of induced

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

treatment as cure for general paralysis of the insane, a form of advanced syphilis. The treatment involved infecting patients with malaria which caused a high fever meant to kill the

spirochetes A spirochaete () or spirochete is a member of the phylum Spirochaetota (), (synonym Spirochaetes) which contains distinctive diderm (double-membrane) gram-negative bacteria, most of which have long, helically coiled (corkscrew-shaped or ...

which caused the disease. A laboratory based in the 14-bed isolation unit became a national centre for mosquito breeding and sent infected mosquitoes to all British hospitals which used the treatment. By the 1970s the unit had become the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...

's Regional Malarial Centre for Europe but was rendered obsolete in 1975 by the increasing use of penicillin to treat syphilitic symptoms. The hospital was also notable for its pioneering work in

music therapy Music therapy, an allied health profession, "is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music t ...

in the 1960s.

Wolvercote Clinic

In 1995 the hospital was chosen as the site of a pioneering treatment centre for sex-offenders. The Wolvercote Clinic specialised in the intensive treatment of convicted child sex offenders and gained an international reputation for effective treatment with non-reoffending rates estimated at 80%. Treatment was carried out in secure accommodation for up to 12 months at a time and involved teaching patients to acknowledge their sexual responses to children and to take control of their own behaviour. The clinic closed in 2002 following news that the Hospital site was to be sold for redevelopment.

Decline and redevelopment

At its peak in 1971, the hospital had 1,587 beds and treated 1,438 patients. By 1975, however, the number of beds had fallen to 1,200 and patient numbers continued to decline until closure. The hospital officially closed in 1997, although the Wolvercote Clinic and a small psychiatric unit known as Horton Haven remained open. The hospital was sold for development in 2002 and most of the buildings were subsequently demolished. The chapel, administration block, water tower and some wards and villas were retained for conversion and incorporation into a new village development on the site. As of 2009 most of the site had been redeveloped as housing and apartments. The water tower, chapel and former superintendent's residence were empty awaiting conversion while the Horton Haven and original gate lodge remained in use for psychiatric treatment. By October 2012, the water tower had been demolished and a small commemorative plaque stood on the site. The superintendent's residence had become dangerously derelict and the chapel was empty but kept maintained and secured by its owners

Epsom and Ewell Borough Council Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. ...

. The Horton Haven continues to provide psychiatric services on the site.

References

{{authority control Former psychiatric hospitals in England Hospitals in Surrey Defunct hospitals in England Epsom Military hospitals in the United Kingdom