Netherne Hospital, formerly The Surrey County Asylum at Netherne or Netherne Asylum was a

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, dissociative ...

in Hooley,

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

History

Design and Construction

Netherne Asylum was founded on 18 October 1905 to alleviate overcrowding at the existing Brookwood Asylum near

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

. The hospital was designed by

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. Previou ...

to hold 960 patients. The buildings followed the popular compact arrow design, with stepped ward blocks on the outside of a broad semi-circle containing the central services such as the administrative offices, laundry, workshops, water tower, boilers and recreation hall. A freestanding chapel was located to the front of the hospital buildings, while an isolation hospital and patients' cemetery were located some distance to the north of the main buildings.

Early years

From its early days, Netherne gained a reputation as a pioneering force in the treatment of mental illness and for setting standards for patient care. Inmates worked on the hospital's extensive estate, in the hospital workshops, in the laundry or were employed in various handicrafts. In their leisure time they could enjoy reading books and newspapers, attend monthly dances and fancy dress parties and a Christmas

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

in addition to playing indoor and outdoor sports. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Netherne took on significant numbers of patients from neighbouring institutions which had been commandeered as War Hospitals. In the 1920s, the hospital was renamed Netherne Mental Hospital, the term 'Asylum' having fallen out of favour. In 1933, Fairdene, a voluntary admissions hospital was opened to the south of the site together with seven new

convalescent Convalescence is the gradual recovery of health and strength after illness or injury. It refers to the later stage of an infectious disease or illness when the patient recovers and returns to previous health, but may continue to be a source of ...

villas and two female wards.

Wartime Service

Despite recent expansion, the Second World War stretched the hospital's resources with 6 wards and 2 villas being requisitioned for the treatment of air raid casualties. Patients who were able helped to assemble electrical components for a nearby munitions factory and by the end of the war most patients were employed in sustaining the war effort. Over the course of the war, several bombs fell in the grounds and another landed on the nurse's home but failed to explode.

Psychosurgery

In 1942

Eric Cunningham Dax Eric Cunningham Dax, AO, FRACP, FRANZCP, HonFRCPsych (18 May 1908 – 29 January 2008) was a British-born Australian psychiatrist. Career In England during the 1930s and 1940s, Dax worked with John Rawlings Rees, Francis Reitmann and other b ...

, medical superintendent of Netherne Hospital, called in surgeon Eric Radley Smith to perform

psychosurgery Psychosurgery, also called neurosurgery for mental disorder (NMD), is the neurosurgical treatment of mental disorder. Psychosurgery has always been a controversial medical field. The modern history of psychosurgery begins in the 1880s under th ...

on patients. Before the end of the year, fifty patients had undergone surgery, and in April 1943 the results were published in the ''Journal of Mental Science''. Cunningham Dax described how he selected patients:

"The operation was carried out with the primary object of relieving the most disturbed patients in the hospital quite independently of their poor prognosis. They formed a large proportion of the most violent, hostile, noisy, excited, destructive or obscene cases in the hospital; the type who distress their relatives, upset the other patients and consume the time and energy which could be put to so much better purpose by the staff".E Cunningham Dax and EJ Radley Smith 1943 The early effects of prefrontal leucotomy on disturbed patients with mental illness of long duration. ''
Journal of Mental Science A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...
'' 89: 182-8.

Two died of cerebral haemorrhage, two were discharged (of whom one relapsed); of those remaining in hospital two-thirds had shown at least some improvement, needing less staff time and supervision.

Post-War developments

In 1948, the hospital became part of the newly formed

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

. In the same year,

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

visited, later commenting that hospitals in the United States had a lot to learn from Netherne. The introduction of new drugs in the 1950s caused many changes, including the removal of security fencing. In 1961, following the so-called Water Tower Speech by Minister of Health

Enoch Powell John Enoch Powell, (16 June 1912 – 8 February 1998) was a British politician, classical scholar, author, linguist, soldier, philologist, and poet. He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (1950–1974) and was Minister of Health (1 ...

which called for mental hospitals to be closed in favour of community care and the use of general hospital acute units, Netherne formed a partnership with Redhill General Hospital in 1965, and the intake of patients was gradually reduced. Christian worship was provided for by St Luke's Anglican Chapel and a Catholic chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes, which opened in November 1964 and which was administered by the Church of Our Lady Help of Christians at

Old Coulsdon Old or OLD may refer to: Places * Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, M ...

. Its registration for worship was cancelled in February 2000.

Art therapy and the Adamson Collection

From 1946, Netherne became a national centre for

art therapy Art therapy (not to be confused with ''arts therapy'', which includes other creative therapies such as drama therapy and music therapy) is a distinct discipline that incorporates creative methods of expression through visual art media. Art thera ...

under

Edward Adamson Edward Adamson (31 May 1911 – 3 February 1996) was a British artist, "the father of Art Therapy in Britain", and the creator of the Adamson Collection. Early years: Sale, Tunbridge Wells, Fleet Street, WW2 (1911–1945) Edward Adamson was b ...

, a pioneering art therapist and the first chairman of the British Association of Art Therapists.

Hogan A hogan ( or ; from Navajo ' ) is the primary, traditional dwelling of the Navajo people. Other traditional structures include the summer shelter, the underground home, and the sweat house. A hogan can be round, cone-shaped, multi-sided, or sq ...

, S. (2001). Healing Arts: the history of art therapy. London, Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Adamson established five art studios at the hospital, focusing on art as a means for people to express themselves and communicate their feelings. During his time at Netherne, Adamson worked with hundreds of patients, including the painter

William Kurelek William Kurelek, (March 3, 1927 – November 3, 1977) was a Canadian artist and writer. His work was influenced by his childhood on the prairies, his Ukrainian-Canadian roots, his struggles with mental illness, and his conversion to Roman Catho ...

and sculptor Rolanda Polonsky.Adamson, E. (1984). Art as Healing. London, Coventure He continued to work at the hospital until his retirement in 1981. Adamson gathered the works of those compelled to live at Netherne in great number, amassing a considerable collection, estimated at 100,000 at his retirement in 1981; and selected works were on show at a purpose-built gallery opened at Netherne in 1956. After Adamson's death in 1996, the Adamson Collection was moved to

Lambeth Hospital Lambeth Hospital is a mental health facility in Landor Road, South London. It was previously known as the "Landor Road hospital" and is now operated by the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and is affiliated with King's College Lo ...

, part of

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, also known as SLaM, is an NHS foundation trust based in London, England, which specialises in mental health. It comprises four psychiatric hospitals (Bethlem Royal Hospital, Lambeth Hospital and t ...

, and during 2012 and 2013 almost all re-located to the

Wellcome Library The Wellcome Library is founded on the collection formed by Sir Henry Wellcome (1853–1936), whose personal wealth allowed him to create one of the most ambitious collections of the 20th century. Henry Wellcome's interest was the history of med ...

in anticipation of a securer future in several international institutions. The Adamson Collection now comprises approximately 6,000 paintings, drawings, sculptures and ceramics, and is of great international and historical importance.

Decline and Redevelopment

Following a steady decline in patient numbers from almost two thousand in the 1950s to 750 in 1986 and just 150 in 1990, the hospital finally closed in 1994 and the remaining 150 patients were integrated into the local community under a supported care programme. The former hospital estate was sold by the Secretary of State for Health to developer M J Gleeson in 1995. The development, known as

Netherne-on-the-Hill Netherne-on-the-Hill is a village in Surrey, England, occupying a plateau once home to Netherne Hospital. The village is across a narrow valley from Hooley in north of the borough of Reigate and Banstead; through the valley runs the Brighton Mai ...

, included about 440 houses, a nursing home, a business centre, a shop, a public house and recreational open space.

References

{{authority control Former psychiatric hospitals in England Hospitals in Surrey Hospital buildings completed in 1905 Hospitals established in 1905 1905 establishments in England 1994 disestablishments in England Hospitals disestablished in 1994 Defunct companies based in Surrey Defunct hospitals in England