Cane Hill has now being flattened with the exception of the chapel & admin Block.
(More images to come in March 2010)
Cane Hill was the Third Surrey County Pauper Lunatic Asylum & completed in 1882.
The hospital was divided into female and male halves, the vertical symmetry being cut along its centre by the administration block, a Chapel, a large recreation and dining hall, kitchens, stores and laundry.
A large water tower provided the necessary pressure for a building of its immensity, around which were clustered stores, maintenance and ancillary buildings.
The grounds were landscaped and formed into ‘airing courts’ – enclosures where patients could sit outside, bask in the sunshine and enjoy the views across to London. Each airing court was shared by several wards, and octagonal pavilions provided shelter and shade. Other parts of the site were devoted to agriculture and farming as the hospital had to be as self sufficient as possible – and several large cast-iron framed greenhouses were also erected.
Cane Hill started to close down in the late 1980s with all the staff and patients leaving in 1991.
It is now a Mecca for urban explorers, many of whom spend many hours & even days on the site.
Recently a redevopment plan has been agreed so the sites future is uncertain but hopefully some of it will be preserved.