Talk: The History of Surrey’s Mental Hospitals

Historian, Julian Pooley F.S.A., traces the history of mental health care in Surrey from the 18th century to the late 20th century. Drawing upon the records of the county’s earliest private asylums; county institutions at Springfield, Brockwood, and Netherne; charitable foundations such as Royal Earlswood and Holloway Sanitorium; and the ‘Epsom Cluster’ of Horton, Long Grove, The Manor, St Ebba’s, and West Park hospitals.

Through the talk, he will present medical records to uncover the hidden stories of patients and the care regime they experienced, alongside photographs and other records rescued when these vast hospitals closed to explore daily life in psychiatric institutions over the course of three centuries.

This fascinating talk will appeal not only in people interested on the history of mental health care, but also local history and their own family histories.

Speaker: Julian Pooley F.S.A. (Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries) is Public Services and Engagement Manager at Surrey History Centre and Honorary Visiting Fellow of the Centre for English Local History at the University of Leicester.

Note: This is a repeat of a previous talk that was fully booked.