St Lawrence's Hospital was a mental health facility in

Caterham Caterham () is a town in the Tandridge (district), Tandridge district of Surrey, England. The town is administratively divided into two: Caterham on the Hill, and Caterham Valley, which includes the main town centre in the middle of a dry valle ...

, Surrey.

History

The facility was commissioned by the Metropolitan Asylums Board and designed by John Giles. It opened as the Metropolitan Asylum for Chronic Imbeciles in 1870. A nurses' home was added to the asylum in 1889 and it became Caterham Mental Hospital in 1920. In 1928 Joey Deacon, the author and television personality, was admitted to the hospital where he remained for the rest of his life.

London County Council The 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 ...

took administrative control of the facility in 1930. A nurse was killed when a bomb fell on the hospital in November 1940 during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was renamed St Lawrence's Hospital after the local parish in 1941 and it joined the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

in 1948. In 1981 '' Silent Minority'', a documentary film made by

Nigel Evans Nigel Martin Evans (born 10 November 1957) is a former British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ribble Valley in Lancashire from 1992 until 2024. He was Joint Executive Secretary of the 1922 Commit ...

for ATV, highlighted the conditions of mental patients at the Borocourt Hospital near

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, England, and the county town of Berkshire. It is the United Kingdom's largest town, with a combined population of 355,596. Most of Reading built-up area, its built-up area lies within the Borough ...

and at St Lawrence's Hospital in Caterham. After 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 c ...

in the 1980s the hospital reduced in size and closed in 1994. Most of the buildings have been demolished but the nurses' home has been converted into flats.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Lawrence's Hospital, Caterham Defunct hospitals in England Former psychiatric hospitals in England Hospitals disestablished in 1994 Buildings and structures in Surrey Hospitals established in 1870