# Our take on Stone House... ***Image Intensive***



## TeeJF (May 16, 2012)

This report is long overdue, not least because I've been bone idle lately in writing them up. But I've only got another seven to do now to get up to date! I apologise if some of our pictures look rather samey but this place has been a bit done to death over the past six months! Anyhow hopefully you'll find something worth looking at. 

 A huge thank you to the guy who helped us to do this place, no names, no pack drill! 

*The Spiel...*​
*Stone House Hospital was originally known as The City of London Lunatic Asylum and it is located in Stone, near Dartford in Kent, very close to the Dartford Tunnel and viaduct. In November, 2007 the hospital was closed, and it was subsequently sold to a development company who gained planning permission to convert it into luxury flats. The work began quite late last year (2011) and is progressing at an incredible pace, so fast in fact that the workmen are in the building from early doors even over the weekend. When we finally got to explore it in March 2012 and despite the fact that it was a Sunday the workmen rocked up at 8 AM!

Stone House was originally built between 1862 and 1866 under the direction of at the London Commissioners in Lunacy to provide for pauper lunatics from the east London area. Back then it's total construction price tag was £65,000. The buildings were designed in a Tudor Revival architectural style by James Bunstone Bunning, and the asylum as it was then, accommodated 220 patients. The grounds, at first 33 acres, were later expanded to 140 acres and included a working farm which was quite common in asylums of the Victorian period. Further additions to the original buildings were made in 1874, 1878, and 1885, including an expanded female wing and a separate hospital building for patients with infectious diseases, again common practice and something we have seen personally at both Whittingham and Cherry Knowle.

The first medical superintendent of the Asylum was Dr. Octavius Jepson, who served from the opening of the facility until 1887. When he died twelve years later, he was buried in the asylum's cemetery. Jepson was succeeded by Dr. Ernest White, who served until he retired in 1904. The third superintendent was Dr. Robert Hunter Steen, who was in turn succeeded in 1924 by Dr. William Robinson. Robinson retired in 1942, but due to wartime staff shortages his permanent replacement, Dr. Hardwick, was not appointed until 1946. When the NHS was created post World War 2 Hardwick was given a new job title - Physician Superintendent - , which brought additional powers and responsibilities. He was succeeded upon his retirement in 1959 by Dr. Cates (1959–1963), who was the last to hold the title, as the NHS then decided to delegate day-to-day operations to a chief Consulting Psychiatrist.

After 1892, the asylum was allowed to take in so called "private patients", patients whose fees were paid by their families, or from pensions. The influx of private patients resulted in a budget surplus, and enabled expansion and improvements of the asylum's facilities. In 1924 the facility was renamed the City of London Mental Hospital, and in 1948, as already mentioned, it was taken over by the new National Health Service and became known as Stone House Hospital. A 1998 assessment by Thames Healthcare suggested that the hospital was not suited for modern healthcare so plans for the hospital's closure were initiated in 2003 by West Kent NHS.

Among its most famous patients was the poet and composer Ivor Gurney - BELOW - who was diagnosed as suffering from "delusional insanity (systematised)". 





Interestingly he was also diagnosed as suffering delayed shell shock but it is now thought that he had long suffered from what we now refer to as Bipolar Disorder. Gurney had enlisted as a private soldier at the outbreak of The Great War but he was gassed whilst fighting in the Ypres Salient in 1917 and subsequently invalided out in 1918. In 1922 Gurney's mental health collapsed and he was admitted to a mental hospital in Gloucestershire for a short time before moving to Stone House where he remained until his death from Tuberculosis on the 26th. December 1937 at the age of 47. Gurney wrote prolifically during his asylum years producing some eight collections of verse. He also continued to compose music but by the 1930s he was writing little of anything. He was once described by a friend as being "so sane in his insanity". *

*The pix...*








*The front elevation of the asylum is classic Victorian asylum architecture.*








*Another curving, sloped corridor very similar to the one at Barrow Gurney Asylum near Bristol.*








*To the immediate right of this shot is a large window looking out on to the security hut. 
Literally as we arrived secca decided to faff about in the boot of his car for what seemed like half an hour. 
I guess it was more like 5 minutes but it didn't half feel like a long time!*








*The use of green as a calming influence has long been known. What better place than here? *








*Do as you are told!  *








* We had to cross these hallways on our hands and knees until we were past the area secca calls home! *








* Another damning indictment of NHS waste... *








* On the first floor now and working our way round towards the tower elevation. *








*Isolation cells, each with a peep hole in the door.  *








*the grime of countless fingers over tens of years... *








*Hospital property... *








* The theatre on the third floor. *








* A baby grand piano... *








*...and an upright too! *








* The ghost of a gormless moderator...  *








* One cannot help but wonder why? *








* Directly beneath the theatre is another function hall, probably the chapel? *








* Now I don't want to upset the Roman Catholics amongst us here but I'm going to anyway. 
As I understand it he was a member of the Hitler Youth in his teens. So shouldn't the headline read, "Papa Nazi"?  *








* Time to leave but not without one last photo... *​

*
Th-th-that's all f-f-folks! 
Hope you enjoyed the pix. 
Thanks for looking.​*


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## UE-OMJ (May 16, 2012)

I kinda like this place, it's still hanging in there, just.

Just out of curiosity, how long ago was your visit?


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## SeffyboyUK (May 16, 2012)

Nicely done mate, I do like this one. We never did get up that tower though, wander if it's still doable...?


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## TeeJF (May 16, 2012)

Thanks guys!

UE-OMJ, we were there back in mid March.

Seffyboy, no we didn't do the tower either. We saw the steps going up (I think) but the ground floor was getting a tad busy with workmen, and secca were rather active!


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## UE-OMJ (May 16, 2012)

Makes sense, I was there end of April and it was defo looking in a much worse state. Not sure why but I really want to do a re-visit, but am not sure that all I'll find now is a pile of bricks.


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## flyboys90 (May 16, 2012)

Its still hanging in there! great photos and report, thanks for sharing.


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## nelly (May 16, 2012)

Nice stuff fella


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## daimo_45 (May 16, 2012)

Wow, they've not done much since I went in January!


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## skeleton key (May 16, 2012)

Now thats ticking all the boxes for me TeeJf & the illustrated history on the money.
Cheers mate thanx for takeing the time and shareing 

SK


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## Mars Lander (May 17, 2012)

Great stuff team TJ, very fascinating.


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## TeeJF (May 17, 2012)

Thank you guys, thank you very much. 

We had an interesting moment when we turned a corner and found a row of light bulbs lit up by a generator and an open door. I peeped round the corner and there was a brew cabin a few meters away. Luckily they were inside it, not mooching around by the door or we'd have been busted promptly.


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## UrbanX (May 17, 2012)

Wow nice one! Looks busy there  
Cheers for sharing!


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## TeeJF (May 18, 2012)

Cheers Lee, yeah it was busy. First of all secca were driving round literally as we rocked up, then when we were inside another secca was faffing about by his car about 30 foot from the window of the room we were in so we had to crawl about on all fours! Then two white vans rocked up and a door opened two floors below us - workmen. We went down and walked straight into a corridor lit up like Blackpool illuminations and an open door just beyond it leading to the workmen's site cabin. Luckily they weren't outside at that moment.

Anyhow all this sh*t was going on in the hour between 7.30 and 8.30 AM on a Sunday!

How's tricks since you got back? Stopped glowing in the dark yet?


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## Silent Hill (May 18, 2012)

Damn that's nice.

Thanks for sharing buddy, and the curved corridor shot just does it for me


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## TeeJF (May 18, 2012)

Did it for us too mate, it's lovely isn't it! 

Thanks for your kind comments.


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## KingRat (May 20, 2012)

Nice, it looks a lot like Stonehouse, are there reports from Stck House and Straw House coming soon? xx


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## TeeJF (May 21, 2012)

yah boo sux...


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## KingRat (May 21, 2012)

KingRat said:


> Nice, it looks a lot like Stonehouse, are there reports from Stck House and Straw House coming soon? xx





TeeJF said:


> yah boo sux...



I stand corrected, the vodka thought it was hilarious though!


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