Claybury Asylum

Claybury Hospital was a psychiatric hospital at Woodford Bridge in Essex. It was opened in 1893 making it the fifth London County Council Asylum. Claybury was built from 1889-1893.The land was previously used for chickens.The architect was George Thomas Hine; Peter Cracknell describes it as the first Compact Arrow design. Situated on the brow of a hill, the site incorporated around 50 acres (200,000 m) of ancient woodland and 95 acres (380,000 m) of open parkland, ponds, pasture and historic gardens. These had been designed in 1789 by the landscape architect Sir Humphry Repton for the owner, James Hatch, of what was then called the Claybury Estate. "Claybury" was the name given to a fictitious village in the stories of W. W. Jacobs, but...