Holloway Sanatorium - Contemporary Account

Contemporary Account

A contemporary account of the sanatorium is of interest. It is probable that much of the content came from Crossland and Holloway: the latter must have been pleased with the report for he subsequently sent a monetary gift to the author.

• On alighting at the Virginia Water Station of the London and South Western Railway the traveller becomes aware of a tall tower recalling to his mind the outline of the famous belfry tower of Ypres. In guide-books the magnificent tower of Les Halles in the old Flemish town which is said to have given its name to "diaper" fabrics, is comically referred to as "reminding one of the Victoria Tower, Westminster." As a matter of fact the Ypres tower is of very fine thirteenth-century work and has served as a model for many towers of later construction, including that of the Holloway Sanatorium. The chief difference between the latter and its prototype is that it is of red brick with stone dressing, while the ancient tower which looks down on the grave of Jansenius is of stone throughout. Built on the top of a slight eminence the Holloway Sanatorium, with its tower standing in pleasure grounds 22 acres (89,000 m2) in extent, is a conspicuous object in the richly-wooded country which inspired Sir John Denham with some of his finest verses.

• Commenced some seven years ago by Mr Thomas Holloway, the Sanatorium for Curable Cases of Mental Disease was originally intended by the founder as a gift to the nation, perfect and complete as it stood. Mr Holloway has resolved not only to make a gift of the building, but to invest an additional £50,000 as an endowment, which will raise the cost of the whole foundation to £350,000. The purpose for which it is designed is clearly defined by the founder to be the succour of persons of the middle-class afflicted with mental disease. In selecting this object he has been guided by the consideration that rich people so unfortunate as to suffer from mental disease need no monetary assistance; and the poor in a similar mental condition are already cared for in public asylums. Put broadly, the scope of the Holloway Sanatorium includes the doctor, lawyer, artist, clerk or any professional bread-winner whose work cannot, like an ordinary business, be carried on by deputy, and whose income ceases absolutely when he is unable to work. This definition has not been arrived at without due care and ample investigation. Mr George Martin, at the instance of Mr Holloway, and sometimes accompanying him, has visited the principal establishments for the cure of mental disease in Europe and America, and the opinion has been gradually formed that many curable cases among the middle class are allowed to become uncurable from lack of means or opportunity to secure proper treatment. Slight cerebal attacks, if dealt with promptly, may, it is well known, be cured, and a recurrence of them guarded against with considerable success, while if neglected they increase in frequency, until the patient becomes entirely incapacitated from pursuing his calling. It is simply as a curative institution that the handsome structure at Virginia Water has been founded, one of the conditions being that no patient will be allowed to remain more than twelve months. By this regulation it will be prevented from becoming an asylum and losing its more important character. It was, as already stated, originally intended to be an entirely self-supporting institution, but Mr Holloway has finally determined to help it with an endowment.
• The extremely handsome appearance of the exterior is amply borne out by the interior decorations and arrangement of the building, which when furnished will be ready at once to receive patients. Built of red brick, dressed with stone, in the style called indifferently Tudor or Early English Renaissance, the effect of the structure is highly creditable to the Architect, Mr W. H. Crossland, whose handsome town hall at Rochdale proves him a worthy pupil of Sir George Gilbert Scott. The front elevation recalls in its general features some of the finer models of the Tudor period, such as Littlecote built before the stern dignity of the Gothic had quite yielded to the grace of the Renaissance. The interior decorations have been designed and executed by various hands, under the direction of Mr George Martin. With the exception of the massive grey marble top of the balustrade, the whole of the entrance hall and staircase is painted and gilt over the stone. This was an afterthought of kindness towards the persons for whom the building is intended, and four hundred of whom it is planned to accommodate. Cold grey columns and walls even if enlivened by sculpture, would, it is thought, sit heavily on a mind diseased, and it was resolved to make the principal apartments one blaze of gold and colour. The hall is accordingly lavishly decorated with figures and designs arabesque and grotesque, the latter displaying almost inexhaustible fertility of invention. If it be sound doctrine that surfaces of wood or stone should be gilt or painted, as the late Mr William Burges ARA., and some other authorities have more or less rigidly maintained, the rich decorations of the Holloway Sanatorium are correct enough. They are certainly gorgeous as well as cheerful and ingenious. The great lecture or recreation hall is remarkable for a splendid gilded roof, and for a profusion of gilding and other decorative work on the walls and behind the platform - the latter being very remarkable. Portraits of distinguished persons by Mr Giradot and other artists form part of the decoration scheme, and add interest to it. In the refectory also - a splendid apartment - the adornments consist of a series of paintings in the style of Watteau forming a frieze, above which are smaller groups in lunettes. Here the scheme of ornament, if hardly so coherent as in the hall, has the advantage aimed at throughout this unique building. Dominated by the idea that a cultivated person whose mind is affected will never be cured if surrounded by vulgar idiots or grim accessories, Mr Martin has endeavoured to introduce as many objects as possible to awake and stimulate the trained intelligence for the moment over-strained. In the smaller but still ample parlours and living rooms the same idea of cheerfulness and suggestiveness is carried out. It is endeavoured above all things to avoid leaving a dimmed intelligence opposite to a blank wall. All the internal arrangements are admirably planned as well for maintaining general health as for isolating special cases of disease, for providing that attendants shall live unobtrusively close to the patients confided to their charge and for conveying an idea of freedom combined with active surveillance. The kitchen is a wonder, and deserves a visit from all interested in the mystery of cooking food for five hundred or more persons at once. To make all complete there is a model laundry in an entirely separate building and pretty red brick houses have been built for such of the staff of the establishment as are not obliged to sleep in the main building. Just of late a change has been made in the original plan by which it was contemplated to use the immense and beautifully decorated hall as a place of worship; but Mr Holloway has decided on building a distinct chapel, the designs for which have been prepared by Mr Crossland. Thousands of shrubs and young trees already fill the pleasure grounds. Almost every known hardy variety is represented. Through those well-planted shrubberies winding walks conduct to pleasant points of view and back to an extensive terrace on which patients may sit or promenade, and enjoy the sunshine and pure air.