Asylums of the London County Council 1914 (Part 1, Special reference to the ‘Epsom Cluster’)

London County Council, Asylums and Mental Deficiency Department

The London County Council was an elected local government organisation for the County of London, (An outline boundary can be seen on Map Sheet 1, below). Its formation came, in 1889; after the Local Government Act, 1888. This reorganisation derived from a wish to sort and control issues arising from the areas that had input and overlapping control.  One of the main and largest bodies was the Metropolitan Board of Works, which worked alongside the traditional bodies, like the local parishes and the Counties of Middlesex, Surrey and Kent. 

Move your Mouse over the image to magnify Map Sheet 1...

N.B. (i) the London County Council ceased to exist on 1 April 1965;  after a transition with the Greater London Council. Thirty two new London borough councils were established after the first elections were held on 9 April 1964.

Many changes and improvements came from the 1889 reorganisation; including City Planning, housing, schools, acquisition of tramways and street re naming to name a few. What could be argued, is that of the largest upheavals was man power; the movement of men throughout the duration of the Great War. Approximately 10141 men and women either volunteered or were conscripted, to aid the War effort.  This figure is calculated from the transcription by Smart Digital Mapping of the ‘London County Council, Record of Service in the Great War 1914 - 18’, (1922) ~ (LCC)!

Roll of Honour

The ‘LCC’ consisted, in the first instance, of a concise description of some of the actions in which the men and women of the Council served. Within each section of the narrative, is a list of those recognised with an award or for those that died.

An ‘Index’ forms the second part of the ‘LCC’ which lists the names of members of the Council’s staff mentioned in its ‘foregoing pages’; with page numbering for easy reference.

In the final part or ‘Appendix’, of the ‘LCC’ consists of a brief, but formal, synopsis of the men and women’s service; amounting to c. 10141, (break down of the number of men in the Asylum Department can be found in Table 3, below. The LCC as a whole will follow in another post).  Describing, with what we can call ‘attribute data’, (listed below in Table 1); It also highlights, prefixed with an ‘*’, c. 1071 service personnel who died.

N.B. (ii) Table 1 shows the Attribute Data found within the Appendix of the LCC

LCC Attribute Data
Surnames
Forenames
Year on leaving the Council and year returning or died
Rank
Units and Regiments
Length of times served in different locations
Awards
Titles
Date of Death
e.g. :-
*Beardmore, Henry Oswald (1914-16); Private. 24th Bn. and 25th (Cyclist) Bn., London Rgt. ; France 18 months; Killed in action, 15th September, 1916.

Originally, all the records of the ‘LCC’, on the face of it, showed a spatial connection to London County Council boundary of that era. However, further consideration and research showed that a spatial separation of those listed under the ‘Asylums and Mental Deficiency Departments’ could be achieved.  These institutions were located outside of the Council boundary, (These can be seen in Map Sheet 1, above).  The other departments’ / ‘service records’ could also have spatial separation, over time, applied to them too.

N.B. (iii) The Green dots seen in Map Sheet 1 represent the men of the LCC working within the 'Asylums and Mental Deficiency Department'.

Towns that serviced the LCC asylums and likely the employees living there.  These, again, can be seen in the previous image... Map sheet 1 above.

Towns that serviced the LCC asylums
ASYLUM	TOWN	COUNTY 1914	NOTES
Colney Hatch	Friern Barnet	Middlesex	Greater London, after 1965, (GL65)
Hanwell Mental Hospital	Hanwell	Middlesex	GL65
Bexley Mental Hospital	Dartford	Kent
Claybury Mental Hospital and Pathological Laboratory	Woodford Green	Essex	GL65
Banstead Mental Hospital	Banstead	Surrey
Cane Hill Mental Hospital	Coulsdon	Surrey
Horton, The Manor, Long Grove and Ewell Colony Mental Hospitals and (Central Station, West Farm and Estate Railway, (Central Station)) c. 1914	Epsom	Surrey	Includes Asylums collectively known as the ‘Epsom Cluster’

The Epsom Cluster

The LCC Asylums in Epsom collectively known as the ‘Epsom Cluster’ came about after the 1888 Local Government Act. One of the many reasons for the Act being implemented, included the provision of aiding the growing issue of people with mental issues or generally, the 'Lunatic population'. Reasonably quickly the LCC had obtained plots in Middlesex, Surrey and Kent; however, this wasn't enough.

Map Sheet 2

They were able to obtain Horton Estate, just outside Epsom and then the Manor estate. These obviously met with opposition from the local community, but growth continued. The LCC then went on to obtain, Long Grove and St. Ebba's or according to the roll, 'Ewell Colony'. Now, with 4 institutions in close proximity the LCC 'centralised' the Electric, Agriculture, central boiler house and the movement of coal. The Horton light railway, rebuilt in 1913; around the same time as the acquisition of West Farm. West Farm was eventually opened in 1921 and called West Park. These five sites form the' Epsom Cluster' that also includes the 'Central stations'.

Table 3

DeptCode	Department	Count	Dept Count
16	ASYLUMS AND MENTAL DEFICIENCY DEPARTMENT.	0	940
16a	Central Administrative Staff	7
16b	Pathological Laboratory	3
16c	Banstead Mental Hospital	109
16d	Bexley Mental Hospital	100
16e	Cane Hill Mental Hospital	81
16f	Claybury Mental Hospital	112
16g	Colney Hatch Mental Hospital	111
16h	Hanwell Mental Hospital	116
16i	Horton Mental Hospital	111
16j	Long Grove Mental Hospital	116
16k	The Manor Mental Hospital	26
16l	Ewell Colony	38
16m	Central Station, West Farm and Estate Railway, (Central Station)	10
		940

N.B. (iv) Originally, the site of the 'Central Station', could not be located. However, with a little help from Ed from the County Asylum's web site and the use of National Library of Scotland and Old Maps the location is, as seen in Map Sheet 2.  It became clear that 'Central Station' was centered on the farm.

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16&lat=51.34468&lon=-0.29060&layers=168&b=1&marker=51.343525,-0.29114

The marker is positioned on 'West Farm', just west of Horton Asylum. 

N.B.(iv)(a) this map is c. 1895 so it doesn't show the central station. However, if you find the same location on Old Maps
https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/520503/160507/12/101151

In the 'Available maps' select 1913 1:2500 you may have to pan slightly, but you should find the site just west of Horton and north of Manor asylum. Note also that here is the Pumping Station & Electric Light Works (London County Council)

N.B. (iv)(b) The Horton Light Railway, (initially a short life, built for the Asylum construction) is not shown on this map either, but it wasn't reinstated to cover the cluster sites until 1913. The West Park asylum would not be completed and opened until 1921

Finally, a check on one of the two men, from 'Central Station...',  who died; the CWGC show W.G. DANIEL who died 18.7.1917, father Samuel lived at 47 Bramble Walk, The Common, Epsom.

The, 'Asylums - London County Council Roll of Honour' forms part of the 'Trench Collection' and contains the names of 940 men. This forms only part of the DB that is the 'LCC' of which there are 10141 names recorded; this will be highlighted in further blogs regarding the LCC.

Original sources and additional help

London County Council Record of Service in the Great War 1914 - 18 (1922)

Ed at https://www.countyasylums.co.uk/the-asylum-list/

.https://www.thetimechamber.co.uk/beta/sites/asylums/the-london-county-epsom-cluster

https://search.lma.gov.uk/scripts/mwimain.dll/144/LMA_OPAC/web_detail/REFD+LCC?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_County_Council