The Epsom Cluster, also referred to as the Horton Estate, was a cluster or group of five large

psychiatric hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...

s situated on land to the west of

Epsom Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ...

. The hospitals were built by the

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 ...

to alleviate pressure on London's existing lunatic asylums, which had by this time become overcrowded. The County Council continued to manage them until they were

nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with ...

, becoming part of 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. The cluster comprised: * Horton Hospital * Long Grove Hospital * Manor Hospital * St Ebba's Hospital *

West Park Hospital West Park Hospital is a modern NHS adult psychiatric hospital in Darlington, County Durham, England. It is managed by the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital was procured under a Private Finance Initiative ('PF ...

The Horton Light Railway transported building supplies and then coal and provisions to the hospitals in the cluster. The cluster was served by a central cemetery on the corner of Hook Road and Horton Lane until 1955 and a central waterworks and power station until the arrival of mains services.

Present day

Following changes in the provision of mental health care, including a greater emphasis on

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 ...

, most of the hospitals' patients were discharged in the 1990s and early 2000s. As of 2011, much of the estate had been redeveloped for housing, including most of The Manor and Horton sites and all of Long Grove. NHS psychiatric units remained operational at St. Ebba's, Horton Haven, West Park and the Manor while redundant areas at West Park and St. Ebba's were undergoing redevelopment.

Notes

External links

A History of the Epsom Cluster
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