Runwell Hospital was a hospital in the

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

district of Essex. It was managed by the

South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust was an NHS foundation trust providing mental health, learning disability, social care and community services across Bedfordshire, Essex, Luton and Suffolk, England. It was involved in runnin ...

History

Male Nurses- Life at Runwell Hospital, Wickford, Essex, 1943 D14313

Following the ending of contracts accommodating patients at the

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

County Council's Brentwood Mental Hospital, joint facilities were developed between

East Ham East Ham is a district of the London Borough of Newham, England, 8 miles (12.8 km) east of Charing Cross. East Ham is identified in the London Plan as a Major Centre. The population is 76,186. It was originally part of the Becontree Hun ...

and

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

boroughs. A site was chosen in

Runwell Runwell is a village near Wickford and a civil parish on the A132 road, in the Chelmsford District, in the English county of Essex. The village is surrounded by neighbouring parishes such as Battlesbridge and Rettendon. Amenities Runwell ...

at Runwell Hall Farm, to the north of the town of

Wickford Wickford is a town and civil parish in the south of the English county of Essex, with a population of 33,486. Located approximately 30 miles (50 km) east of London, it is within the Borough of Basildon along with the original town of Basil ...

and the firm of Elcock and Sutcliffe were chosen as architects to the site, the former having previously designed the new

Bethlem Royal Hospital Bethlem Royal Hospital, also known as St Mary Bethlehem, Bethlehem Hospital and Bedlam, is a psychiatric hospital in London. Its famous history has inspired several horror books, films and TV series, most notably '' Bedlam'', a 1946 film with ...

at Monks Orchard. The foundation stone was laid by

Laurence Brock Sir Laurence George Brock CB (7 May 1879 – 29 April 1949) was a British civil servant. He was chairman of the Board of Control for Lunacy and Mental Deficiency from 1928 to 1945. Brock was born in Islington, London to George William Freder ...

in June 1934 and the hospital was officially opened by Sir Kingsley Wood,

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

, as Runwell Mental Hospital in June 1937. The chapel, dedicated to St. Luke, was placed in a prominent position. The hospital was bombed by the German

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

; there was extensive damage including a number of large craters but no injuries to staff. The hospital joined the

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 1948 and Professor John Corsellis led to the development of a "brain bank", using samples taken from patients not just from the hospital but from elsewhere in the United Kingdom. It became Runwell Hospital in 1955. Following the introduction of

Care in the Community Care in the Community (also called "Community Care" or "Domiciliary Care") is a British policy of deinstitutionalisation, treating and caring for physically and mentally disabled people in their homes rather than in an institution. Institutional ca ...

in the early 1980s, the hospital went into a period of decline and eventually closed in August 2010. Proposals to develop the site initially included provision for a large prison but this proposal was withdrawn following strong local opposition. The site has since been developed for residential use by

Countryside Properties Countryside Partnerships plc, formerly Countryside Properties plc, is a UK housebuilding and urban regeneration company, operating mainly in London and the South East of England, but with a presence in the North West of England. It was listed o ...

and the area is now known as St Luke's Park.

References

External links

Runwell Hospital History
Beyond the Point {{authority control Hospital buildings completed in 1937 Hospitals in Essex Former psychiatric hospitals in England Defunct hospitals in England