Design and Construction
The County Authority of East Sussex decided to build a new lunatic asylum at the turn of the twentieth century after problems of overcrowding at the Haywards Heath Asylum, formerly the Sussex County Asylum. To this end the County Council purchased the 400 acre Park Farm estate, a short distance from Hellingly village and railway station, from the earl of Chichester for £16,000. Construction began in 1898 and the new asylum was built to a compact arrow plan by George Thomas Hine, consultant architect to the Commissioners in Lunacy. The hospital opened on July 20th, 1903 at a total cost of £353,400.
The main complex comprised an administrative block, central stores, kitchens, a recreation hall and the assistant medical officer's residence. Like most large institutions of this age and type the sexes were separated into separate accommodation and work areas. To the west of the central block stood the male wards, workshops, boiler house, water tower and maintenance department. The female wards were located on the east side of the hospital along with the laundry, sewing room and a nurses' home. All of the buildings in the main complex were linked by an extensive network of corridors.
To the north of the main buildings were a chapel and four further villas including one for male working patients, two for female working patients and another for mentally defective children. Park House, a hospital annexe for acute cases was located to the southwest of the main asylum and a small isolation hospital for infectious diseases was placed in the woods to the far north-west of the grounds to reduce the risk of infection. The estate plan incorporated two driveways: one from the south-west lined with medical officers' residences and the acute hospital and another second from the south routed via the farm, male farm-workers' villa and married attendants' cottages.
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