# Horton Chapel & Epsom Cluster Remnants, Oct '12 (V. pic heavy)



## The Archivist (Oct 22, 2012)

Horton Chapel has been a goal of mine for three years now: countless recces and revisits have proved fruitless, _(the chapel is securely locked and maintained by the borough council)_ so when the opportunity arose to visit legitimately as part of a 'guided walk' around the Epsom Cluster, I jumped at it. 



> Horton Hospital opened in 1902 in buildings designed by G.T. Hine, Consultant Architect to the Commissioners in Lunacy. During two World Wars it was commandeered as a military hospital and the patients transferred elsewhere. The hospital played an important role in the development of Induced Malaria Therapy as treatment for General Paralysis of the Insane (a symptom of advanced syphilis) and also pioneered attempts to treat and rehabilitate sex-offenders. After 1971 patient numbers were gradually reduced and the hospital closed in 1997.



The chapel held its last service c.2003 and is now in limbo. Several ideas have been put forward for re-use, including an evangelical church, a mosque and most recently a community centre. 






First, the former main gate of the hospital, now part of the Horton Haven Psychiatric Unit






The Chapel





In 1961, the west end of the chapel was partitioned off to serve as a hall for entertainments which doubled as a music therapy unit. This was called the Harewood Hall





Among the items left behind was this huge ancient reel-to-reel tape recorder, probably part of the music therapy equipment. 






The chapel itself, looking up the nave






Looking back. The large mural was painted in 1963 after the chapel was partitioned and is in excellent condition. 






Encaustic tiles in the sanctuary






The organ console





Stops and keys





Organ pipes





Old service sheets and a moulting hassock





East Window

Naturally, as well as the guided walk, I engaged in a few 'extra-curricular' visits. I won't go over the history of the Epsom Cluster here, but if you're not familiar, there's a brief introduction here


*Firstly, the rest of Horton:*





I was shocked to see that the iconic water tower had been demolished and replaced by this memorial





This is Horton House. Originally the Superintendent's residence, it was converted to patient accommodation in the 1960s. 





I first visited this house in 2009, since then it seems the upstairs walls have fallen through the floor. 





This was the only part of the upstairs I cared to visit. Taken from the top of the stairs. 

*Here's St. Ebba's: *





Admin block, now rather nice flats.





One of the villas, likewise, although about 1/4 of the hospital remains open for patients. 





The water tower and surrounding workshops are stranded in the middle of the new housing estate. 





Sadly, the place was completely empty and the tower was a guano-strewn, pigeon infested nightmare.





Nothing to see here.

*Long Grove:*





Admin block, again, now rather nice flats. Nothing derelict to see here. 


*Central Power Station:
*




Now David Lloyd Health Club, I always assumed there was nothing left to see





Amazingly however, the original pumping equipment survives and is well-looked after.

*The Manor:*





Admin block, there's a theme developing here...





Some sort of temporary building, formerly also the hospital bus stop.





The now closed Pines Lodge Day Centre.

*Hollywood Lodge:*





Completely bricked up. 

*And of course, West Park:*





Admin block, being converted to flats.





Clifton/Cranford/Denton/Dartford





Main street





Greenbank House, former Drugs unit





Kitchen






Corridor






The Mortuary 






Pathology Lab






Tissue samples - rather creepy. 






I believe by the legs and tail that this was a squirrel. 






The body refrigerator






More on Horton hospital here: http://derelictmisc.org.uk/hospitals/h/horton.html


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## Bones out (Oct 22, 2012)

Beautifully done!


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## MD (Oct 22, 2012)

Tissue samples is a great shot 
good intresting read thanks


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## UE-OMJ (Oct 22, 2012)

Great report there. The tape player in pic 4 was brilliant, my mum had/has one exactly like that, I think it's in her loft. Ah the memories of playing with that as a child....


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## night crawler (Oct 22, 2012)

Well done a great report.


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## flyboys90 (Oct 22, 2012)

Ace report,thanks for sharing.


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## BahrainPete (Oct 22, 2012)

A nice report TA & great pics. Thanks for taking the time to compile & share


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## UrbanX (Oct 22, 2012)

I feel like I've been on a tour myself! Fantastic report! That squirrel is unreal!


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## Silent Hill (Oct 22, 2012)

Excellent informative report. Really well put together. Is there any evidence left of the light railway that used to service the hospitals?


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## birdinanaviary (Oct 23, 2012)

cracking report, sad to see west park scaffed up but good that its not going to waste!


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## mookster (Oct 23, 2012)

Those shots of West Park brought all sorts of memories flooding back....it's so good they kept a large amount though


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## The Archivist (Oct 23, 2012)

Spiral Architect said:


> Excellent informative report. Really well put together. Is there any evidence left of the light railway that used to service the hospitals?



Not that I'm aware of. Most of the trackbed has been built on, though you can still trace the route in field boundaries and walk part of the trackbed through Horton Country Park. There used to be remains of the station at West Park but they were difficult to get to when I went back in the day and of course they've gone now.


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## Silent Hill (Oct 23, 2012)

The Archivist said:


> Not that I'm aware of. Most of the trackbed has been built on



I thought that may be the case. Thanks for the update mate


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## LairdOfLochaber (Oct 24, 2012)

I was eating supper, just as I got to the mortuary, tissue samples, body refrigerator, & preserved squirrel. Nice. Urbex is def not for the squeamish. What is the story on Hollywood Lodge? Over-the-top grafitti on what could be a beautiful house. Hope it doesn't look like the superintendent's place inside. Enjoyed your report.


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## Stussy (Oct 24, 2012)

Thats the kind of explore i want to find, shame there is nothing like that up here! Thanks for sharing! Loving the sample pics!


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## Carlh (Oct 24, 2012)

one spooky place! thanks for sharing


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## The Archivist (Oct 24, 2012)

Thanks for the comments folks, glad it was of interest. 



Stussy said:


> Thats the kind of explore i want to find, shame there is nothing like that up here!


Nothing compared to what it was a few years ago; wish I'd spent more time up there when there was more to see. 



LairdOfLochaber said:


> What is the story on Hollywood Lodge? Over-the-top grafitti on what could be a beautiful house



It was built c.1760 on land from Horton Manor (later the Manor Hospital) for John Browning Esq. and his wife the Hon. Louisa.

After the last owner died in 1926 it was bought the London County Council as an annexe to the Manor and served as accommodation for mentally handicapped patients. It was later used as a psychogeriatric care home with ties to West Park but closed in 2003.



> Hope it doesn't look like the superintendent's place inside.



Even worse, I'm afraid. It was set on fire in February 2005 and about half of the interior has collapsed.


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## Philippa (Dec 1, 2012)

absolutely beautiful photography.


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## peterc4 (Dec 3, 2012)

good stuff, tissue samples and body fridge, great report


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## ZerO81 (Dec 3, 2012)

I got into exploring faaaar too late as I missed all of the Epsom Cluster, bar West Park.

Nicely documented though.


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## skankypants (Dec 3, 2012)

That must have been a great day out!thanks for posting..


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## scribble (Dec 3, 2012)

Brilliant report. The pumping machinery looks in working order. More than can be said for the squirrel.


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