# St Augustines Asylum



## Leeloo (Oct 5, 2011)

Hello peoples!

Been a while, but I have better news this time than in my first post!

The subject of my latest explore was St Augustine’s Hospital in Kent. As some of you will probably know, this hospital had a very interesting albeit chequered past.

*A (very) brief History of St Augustine’s Hospital*

The hospital was opened in 1872, when it became clear that the designated Kent County Asylum alone was not sufficient to serve the area. At the time it was referred to as the East Kent County Asylum. The building layout was created by architects J Giles and Gough, and is of corridor pavilion design.

At this time facilities were basic, consisting mainly of dormitories, staff recreation areas, and a mortuary. Between 1929 and 1939, an operating theatre and nurses home were built, the admissions block and two convalescent villas were also added.

In 1948 the hospital became part of the National Health service, and was renamed ‘St Augustine’s.’ At this time St Augustine’s was using new treatments such as ECT and psychosurgery.

In 1972 the Hospital found itself at the centre of a controversy. Two of the nursing staff (William Ankers and Olleste Weston) had become concerned with the treatment of long stay patients. After their initial complaints to the hospital authorities were overlooked, they decided to produce an in depth report, describing over 70 individual instances of abuse or neglect. In one short excerpt, they detail in particular the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT):

_"Drugs were given almost automatically to new admissions ... ECT was sometimes used as a punitive measure - although it was not openly admitted. I have heard the term 'punitive ECT' used in the hospital in reference to "that is what a patient needs". Some psychiatrists had a certain faith in ECT and at times patients were threatened with it"_

Due to this an official enquiry was set up. Amazingly, although the majority of the complaints were upheld by the hospital authority, no disciplinary action was ever taken against the staff involved.

The hospital shut down in 1993, after the Care in the Community policy came into effect.


*St Augustines Now*

I am pleased to report that the majority of the buildings themselves are largely intact (that is, what remains of them today. Parts of the main site have been demolished or converted some years ago). It seems that this site is not currently earmarked for demolition or redevelopment, probably due to its remote location. However, time (and those with no appreciation of the urban environment) have really taken a bat to this place. Pretty much everything has been broken, removed or partially destroyed. That said, St Augustine’s still makes for a wonderful explore, and if you take your time you will find some lovely details. On the map below I have numbered the main buildings: (1) Main Site (2) Convalescent Villa 1 (3) Convalescent Villa 2 (4) Gym and occupation therapy building








*Images*

The images are numbered in accordance to the building they were taken in, just to give you a better idea:

(1) Interesting graffiti






(1) Writing on the wall of a small room, presumably by a patient, not a graffiti artist.






(1) Staff room door






(1) Graffitied door in corridor






(1) Peeling paint on the ceiling 






(1) Packaging from medical products






(1) Remains of a piano






(1) Pipes and equipment in the basement






(1) Main fuses






(1) Linen press






(1) Medical literature, seemingly concerned with surgery or surgical instruments including ‘irrigating cystomes’ (?)






(1) Staff lockers






(1) Door with signs and writing






(1) Medication cabinets






(1) Wallpaper






(1) Ward






(1) Rusted Trolley, in what we suspected to be the ect suite






(1) Collapsed shelves in ‘ect suite’






(3) Old batteries






(3) Mural in one of the ‘convalescent villas. It seemed that these smaller buildings were designated either for patients who were elderly, or those who had learning difficulties rather than any mental illness.






(2) Bath chair






(2) Painting in drawer






(2) MoneyWhich circa 1973






(1) plaque on wall of laundry






(4) Colourful graffiti on wall of sports hall (as we went through the door on the far side we found another large piece, and the smell of very fresh spray paint. It seems this building is frequented by graffiti artists often.)







Hope you like!

Love Leeloo

xxxx


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## Em_Ux (Oct 6, 2011)

Looks like there's plenty to see here!

Shame these places get so trashed.

Thanks for posting.


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## urbex13 (Oct 6, 2011)

Good photographs, the graffiti war in there appears to be ongoing, there's always some amazing stuff in the gym!

"I am pleased to report that the majority of the buildings themselves are largely intact."

They're not only buildings, the main site was partially demolished and largely converted, did you see the chapel and administration block (with clock tower) as you drove down towards these buildings? http://www.countyasylums.com/mentalasylums/staugustines01.htm there are a few 'after' shots of them here!


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## urbex13 (Oct 6, 2011)

http://www.countyasylums.com/mentalasylums/airstaugustines.htm

That's what it was like once upon a time!


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## smiler (Oct 6, 2011)

Nice One, I enjoyed it, Thanks.


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## Leeloo (Oct 6, 2011)

urbex13 said:


> http://www.countyasylums.com/mentalasylums/airstaugustines.htm
> 
> That's what it was like once upon a time!



wow! this place was huge! I've been digging up stuff on this for ages and have had great difficulty finding any reference to the original layout/plan. In fact of all the asylums I have researched this one has proved the most illusive.

Anymore info/useful links you have would be greatly appreciated!

leeloo
xxx


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## TeeJF (Oct 6, 2011)

My oh my! You really spent some time on that report didn't you! I love your annotations et all. Brill! I reckon Tonto and I know where we're going to explore when we're down at the end of the month now! 

Thank yoooooooo!


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## urbex13 (Oct 6, 2011)

Ahhh I'm honestly not all that sure, I had a friend who was very knowledgeable about the site but he hasn't been active on any forums for a good while now unfortunately. I can give you some quotes from different reports and bits and pieces that will hopefully piece stuff together 

"Closed 1993. Econ construction, specialist in asbestos removal and demolition, charged a quarter of a million pounds to destroy the complete hospital complex of sixty acres, reclaiming of bricks, timber and slates and recycling and crushing 6,000 cubic metres of concrete, employing thirty demolition workers at the peak and completing on time in 1997 - on behalf of Wilcon Homes. All of the main hospital is now gone and has houses built on it."

"The main asylum site was redeveloped into housing in the mid nineties - the chapel, water tower and admin block buildings were kept and converted to flats/housing. There are still four hospital buildings left on the adjacent site, and this site will not be developed into more housing - this site is marked by the local government as for leisure or mixed-use business only, so unless businesses step in to buy and redevelop the site into a hotel, corporate head office or small business units, these buildings will be left to rot."

The admin block, water tower and chapel (as with a lot of these redevelopments) are what were left and converted.

"There are 4 buildings left that are slightly away from the main site and are lying derelict: Oak House (built in 1939 as specialist spinal wards), Beech House (a school, built in 1972), Juniper House and Redwood House."

Oak house is the largest of the buildings and the first you encounter coming from the direction of the main site, Beech House is the school building (with gymnasium) and Juniper and Redwood are the two in the middle. 

That's as much as I know about those specific buildings and the demolition of the rest of the hospital, the history of the place itself is indeed pretty thin, considering it had 2000 patients at its height!


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## UrbanX (Oct 7, 2011)

Wow! What a thorough well written report! Loves every pic, I can smell the mould! Things like the patients arithmatic really bring it to life! Almost temps me to make the journey to see it! Am really looking forward to more of your reports!


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## Madaxe (Oct 8, 2011)

Fantastic report there leeloo and great shots.
Makes me want to take a trip.
Thanks for sharing.


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## maximus (Oct 8, 2011)

fab leeloo thanks!!!!!!

Love pic 2!


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## King Al (Oct 8, 2011)

Good report Leeloo, like the pipes in the basement


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