THE Village
A hilltop with a history of its own
Long before Netherne-on-the-Hill became home to the community it is today, this hilltop site in the Surrey countryside had a history of its own, and understanding that history helps explain much of what makes the village so distinctive. A special guide to the history of Netherne is available to purchase for £10 from the Pavilion Café during its opening hours.
Nearly 130 years on this hilltop
Surrey County Council identified that its asylum at Brookwood near Woking had exceeded its capacity and that a new facility was needed. The council selected Netherne, then a working farming estate, as the site for a new hospital and purchased it for £10,000.
Plans were drawn up by George Thomas Hine, one of the leading architects of his day and the Consultant Architect to the Commissioners in Lunacy. He designed the buildings in what was known as the compact arrow layout: a broad sweep of stepped ward blocks fanning out from a central core of administrative offices, workshops, laundry, boiler house and recreation hall, with a freestanding chapel to the front of the complex. The foundation stone was laid in October.
Netherne opened its doors in April, initially accommodating around 960 patients. From its earliest days it gained a reputation as a progressive and pioneering institution. Patients had access to books and newspapers, attended monthly dances and fancy dress events, and could enjoy both indoor and outdoor sports. The hospital ran its own farm, laundry and workshops, making it largely self-sufficient.
The war placed considerable demands on the hospital. Six wards and two villas were requisitioned for the treatment of air raid casualties, and patients who were able contributed to the war effort by assembling components for a nearby munitions factory. Several bombs fell in the grounds during the conflict, though mercifully without catastrophic consequences.
Netherne became a nationally important centre for art therapy under Edward Adamson, a pioneering therapist and the first chairman of the British Association of Art Therapists.
The hospital joined the newly formed National Health Service, and was visited by Eleanor Roosevelt, who reportedly commented that American hospitals had a great deal to learn from Netherne's approach to patient care.
Patient numbers had grown to almost 2,000. The introduction of new medications during the decade led to the removal of security fencing, an early sign of the shift in approach that would eventually reshape the hospital's future.
A selection of works from Adamson's growing collection went on display in a purpose-built gallery within the hospital grounds.
Following the national push towards community-based care, Netherne formed a partnership with Redhill General Hospital, and patient numbers began a long, gradual decline.
From nearly 2,000 in the 1950s, patient numbers fell to around 750 by 1986, and to just 150 by 1990.
Netherne finally closed its doors, with its remaining patients moved into supported community care.
The estate was purchased by developer M J Gleeson, who secured planning permission to create a new residential village on the site. A number of other developers were brought in to build different sections, but M J Gleeson retained overall control and responsibility for completing the infrastructure, roads and community facilities.
Art as a way of being heard
Adamson established five art studios at the hospital, using art as a means for patients to express themselves and communicate their feelings. Over the course of his career at Netherne he worked with hundreds of patients and amassed a collection estimated at around 100,000 pieces by the time of his retirement in 1981.
After Adamson's death, the collection was eventually relocated. It now comprises around 6,000 paintings, drawings, sculptures and ceramics, held in institutions of international importance.
What became of the original buildings
Original hospital buildings were sensitively converted into homes and flats, and new properties were built across the site. The result was a village of nearly 600 homes, and a community that has grown and shaped itself ever since.
The hospital's recreation hall, at the heart of Hine's original central core, is now the village hall.
Perhaps most remarkably, the freestanding hospital chapel was transformed into the leisure centre, home to the village's swimming pool and gym.
The stepped ward blocks and villas were sensitively converted into homes and flats, alongside new build properties across the site.