Stone House Hospital

Stone House Hospital near Dartford, originally called the City of London Lunatic Asylum, was built between 1862 and 1866 to house mentally disturbed paupers from the London area. The buildings were designed by James Bunstone Bunning in a Tudor Revival style. The grounds covered 33 acres, this was later extended to 140 acres and included a working farm. Between 1874 and 1885 additions were made to the building to expand the female ward and create a separate hospital building for patients with infectious diseases.

In 1892 the asylum started to accept private patients, the revenue generated by this allowed for further expansion and improvement of the facilities. 1924 saw the facility renamed the City of London Mental Hospital, and after the formation of the National Health Service it was taken over in 1948 became known as Stone House Hospital. Among its most famous patients was the poet and composer Ivor Gurney, who resided there from 1922 until his death in 1937.

In 1998 an assessment by Thames Healthcare pointed to the hospital not being suited to modern healthcare, this signaled the beginning of the end for Stone House and in 2003 West Kent NHS initiated plans for the hospital's closure. November 2007 saw the doors close for good, the site was then sold and has been redeveloped, with the main building being turned into luxury flats and houses built in the grounds.

Note:
Again, these are from about 2 years ago. This was probably the worst explore I've been on! Turned out our info was more than a little out of date and the builders had moved in quite some time before we got there. The site was about a foot deep in mud and ended with a confrontation with a very aggressive builder.

And here is our new friend:

Thanks for looking. UG