Background
Just a quick one today - nearly didn't bother reporting but thought it'd be of interest to those into your county asylums and mental deficiency colonies. South Ockendon was one of the latter - a kind of spin-off institution to the asylums, of the likes of Harperbury, which were created in the early 20th century to separate those with mental disabilities from the mentally ill in the asylums. This development of mental institutions coincided with the mentally disabled finding themselves with a job often in farming during WW1 no longer having work when the veterans came back, as well as the questionable beliefs of social Darwinism on the rise during this period which sought to separate such people from society and prevent them from breeding. So some interesting background to these places. They often took the form of villa/colony-style institutions of individual buildings due to their more modern conceptualisation and agricultural work-based focus compared to the county asylums, although in many ways they were still very similar places in their design and function.
I always like an architecture description, so I suppose the buildings were the sort of fairly drab brick-heavy development of traditional Neo-Georgian which you seem to see a lot in houses of the 1930s-1940s, perhaps reflecting a move away from Art Deco in light of the Great Depression and oncoming wartime, as well as appearing more domestic in keeping with the villa plan. The only mental hospital I can think of similar to this is maybe Barrow, both being quite late. It's a charmingly unsexy style.
The South Ockendon Colony was constructed upon Little Mollands Farm; which was bought in 1905 by West Ham Borough Council for use as a farm colony providing three months of work to men not entitled to unemployment benefit. The colony opened in 1932, largely comprising 2-storey villa accommodation separated by open pathways. It was originally intended to have 750 beds, but was limited to 520 at the outbreak of WW2. It was absorbed into the NHS and renamed South Ockendon Hospital. By 1968, the hospital had 1,065 beds with new post-war villas. Like the asylums, these institutions suffered from deteriorating conditions and malpractice towards the end of their lifespan and this place suffered hard. The hospital closed in 1994, and saw the swift demolition of many of its buildings.
These 1994 photographs I managed to pull out from the Essex Record Office as there wasn't any good images of the buildings online. They were black and white so I recoloured them using Photoshop so enjoy this original research
Admin
A ward
Boilerhouse/utility area with top of water tower in view behind
The Visit
So whilst doing some deep-focused asylum digging last year I suddenly found out that such an institution existed in Essex not far from me. I had no idea about this, somehow it had escaped my attention and seemingly that of much of the internet. A bit of googling found that the colony buildings were nearly all demolished, except for the recreation hall and a few connecting buildings that was now a social club. I sent a hopeful email out to the social club and thankfully I got a response.
They were more than happy to show me around, and after some trouble trying to find a date myself and @KismetJ were free, we finally made a visit in the new year. The place has had a few modern additions including the bar on the side and a few other bits, but otherwise it's quite authentic. The hall was huge and very nicely kept. They had to have the original Crittall windows replaced but thankfully went to the effort of retaining the original shape in the new double glazing. All the curtains were down at the time and I'm glad I asked for them to be put up, as much as I felt bad for it! Kismet and I noticed a projector hole in the top of the hall so instantly started wondering. We asked and the gentleman kindly showed us in the projector room. It had clearly been left for some time and had a lot of old features including some original projecting and electrical equipment. As well as the hall, there was some other bits of side building that would have originally connected to the larger central building. Not much left, but enough to adequately get a feel for it.
There's some more photographs and info viewable here for those that want to learn a bit more, but I thought I'd keep this post pretty light.
The projector room. It had been fitted with a few disco-light bits but still seemed to have some old kit in situ.
Maybe part of a projector?
The dial made me happy
Im assuming an old stage light
Under the hall
Originally outdoor corridor beyond the side of the hall
The back of the hall still bore a superintendent sign which was nice
The surviving row of offices extending from the hall/kitchen area
Inside
Post-war gates to the hospital reading SOH
That's all folks
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