NEW BOOK PUBLISHED ABOUT DARTFORD’S COUNTY LUNATIC ASYLUMS Bexley was the 7th London County Asylum and was built on land around Bexleyheath formerly known as Baldwyn’s Park. The land had been owned by American inventor Hiram Maxim (1840-1916), who achieved the first aeroplane flight there (albeit still partly attached to the ground) a full six years before the Wright Brothers’ “true” flight.
The “County Asylum” system developed from 1808 and saw a network of immense institutions built across England and Wales. Often accommodating well over 2,000 patients each, they functioned much like a self-contained town, including their own chapels, recreation halls and theatres, hairdressers, farms, art studios, bakeries, fire stations, and so on; almost everything a patient could physically need was provided within their walls. How well the asylums actually met their patients‘ psychiatric needs is a more controversial topic. By 1845, every county and borough was expected to build at least one asylum to accommodate their “pauper lunatics” (a formal term at that time) who could not afford private treatment, and over 150,000 people were housed in such a way by the 1950s. While Dartford did not require its own (the two built for Kent were located at Barming Heath and Chartham, respectively), the Dartford area did play host to two of London’s. The first to appear was Stone House, which opened in 1866 in a small farming hamlet on the outskirts of Dartford, and was built to serve the City of London Corporation. The handsome building was considered truly cutting-edge when it opened, and no expense was spared to accommodate even its poorest residents, with a beautiful chapel and ornate dining room among additions to its lavish interior. At its peak, it housed 610 patients. However, by the time it opened, there were few paupers still resident in the tiny geographical area the asylum served, and so the Corporation was able to boardin lunatics from Dartford and other areas at a higher rate, turning out to be another lucrative investment for them.
Originally known as “Heath Asylum”, the London authorities decided on a change to “Bexley” in 1905. Bexley’s council feared a lunatic asylum named after their town would be a disaster for house prices, with their plea to Parliament to have it called “Dartford Heath Asylum” instead being ignored. Bexley was an immense building that eventually housed 2,544 patients. In its earlier years, it practiced some of the horrendous “treatments” doled out to unfortunate asylum patients, including lobotomies and aversion therapy. However, over time it gained one of the better reputations among such institutions and established a healthy relationship with Bexley and Dartford’s population, many of whom volunteered at the asylum or attended sporting, entertainment, and social events within the huge building and its grounds. Bexley was completely demolished (bar the chapel) by 2001, with Bexley Park housing estate built in its place. Stone House closed in 2006 and has been sympathetically converted into luxury apartments. Its water tower still serves as a local landmark and can still be seen clearly when traveling south across Dartford Bridge. “A History of London County Lunatic Asylums & Mental Hospitals” by Ed Brandon features a full chapter on Bexley Asylum, along with ten others from London and the surrounding area. The book is available via all good booksellers, published by Pen & Sword Books.
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