Oakwood Hospital in

Barming Heath Barming Heath is an area of north-western Maidstone in Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex ...

near

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

was a

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociat ...

founded in 1833 as the Kent County Lunatic Asylum. Following transfer of services to

Maidstone Hospital Maidstone Hospital is a hospital in Barming, Maidstone, England. It is managed by the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. History The hospital, which replaced the West Kent hospital in Marsham Street, was built on a greenfield site adjacen ...

, Oakwood closed in 1994 and was then developed as a residential estate known as St Andrew's Park.

History

Construction and expansion

The Oakwood Hospital was founded as the "Kent County Lunatic Asylum" in 1833. It was designed as one building, commonly referred to as St Andrew's House, using an early corridor design by the surveyor to the County of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

John Whichcord Snr John Whichcord Sr. (1790–1860) was a British architect who worked in Maidstone, Kent and designed many public and institutional buildings in the town. Life Whichcord, the son of a surveyor, was born in Devizes, Wiltshire. He was articled to ...

(who also designed Maidstone County Gaol). It was erected between 1829 and 1833 on a site in

, just to the west of

. The asylum was intended to take in patients from across the entire county of Kent, which then stretched as far west as

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwic ...

. The first 168 patients were admitted in 1833. As the asylum expanded, additions and extensions were made to this building until it had reached maximum potential capacity. In 1850 an additional building, known as The Queen's House, was built on newly acquired land at the site. This building was also designed by the architect John Whichcord Snr. In the mid-nineteenth century, the superintendent of the asylum was Dr James Huxley (1821-1907), the elder brother of

Thomas Henry Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The stor ...

, the evolutionary biologist and friend of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

. Further expansion took place between 1867 and 1872 with the building of the third asylum block (also known as the Hermitage Block). On 29 November 1957, a fire broke out in the tailor's workshop on the first floor of one of the buildings. The

fire brigade A fire department (American English) or fire brigade ( Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression ...

was called at 06:40 and arrived four minutes later. Six

pumps A pump is a device that moves fluids ( liquids or gases), or sometimes slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic energy. Pumps can be classified into three major groups according to the method the ...

attended and the 350 patients in that wing were evacuated. By 08:00 the fire was out, and the clearing-up process began. The block had been gutted but a tall ventilation tower seemed to have survived unscathed. At 10:00, the tower collapsed, killing three firemen, two nursing staff, the hospital printer and a patient and injuring a number of people.

Closure and redevelopment

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 and also the transfer of some services to

, Oakwood Hospital then became known as the Maidstone Hospital (Psychiatric Wing). The hospital closed completely in 1994. St Andrew's House, the Queen's House, the Beeches (formerly the Superintendent's House), and the two lodges were all

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

s and so were all subsequently converted for residential use.

Gallery

File:Rear of St Andrew's House 2000.jpg, Rear of St Andrew's House 2000 File:Rear of St Andrew's House 2009.jpg, Rear of St Andrew's House 2009 File:St Andrew's Refractory Ward 2000.jpg, Detached Refractory Ward of St Andrew's House 2000 File:St Andrew's Refractory Ward 2009.jpg, Detached Refractory Ward of St Andrew's House 2009 File:St Andrew's House 2000.jpg, Front of St Andrew's House 2000 File:St Andrew's House 2009.jpg, Front of St Andrew's House 2009

Other notes

The word 'barmy' (meaning 'mad' or 'foolish') is popularly said to come from 'Barming' with allusion to the Hospital, but the

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...

records that it stems from the Old English word 'barm' meaning 'froth on fermenting malt'.Maurice Waite (Editor)

References

Notes

Bibliography

*''A History Of Oakwood Hospital 1828-1982'' Kent County Council *''Queen's House, Oakwood Hospital: Building Investigation'' Oxford Archaeological Unit 1998 *''St Andrew's House, Oakwood Hospital: Historic Buildings Report'' Oxford Archaeological Unit 2002 *Archive collection held at the ''Centre For Kentish Studies'' in Maidstone

External links

{{authority control 1988 disestablishments Defunct hospitals in England Former psychiatric hospitals in England Grade II listed buildings in Kent History of Kent Hospitals established in 1833 Hospitals in Kent Buildings and structures in Maidstone