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Holloway Sanatorium, Virginia Water, 'for the care and treatment of the insane of the upper and middle classes' |
From the 'Rules for the admission and visiting of patients and borders' in Third Annual Report of Holloway Sanatorium, Registered Hospital for the Insane. For the Year 1888, pp 49-52, Surrey History Centre, 4761/1/1 |
| During the nineteenth century there was a growing concern for people with mental health problems and learning disabilities. Many new mental hospitals (generally called ‘lunatic asylums’ at the time) were built for them.
A small number of private establishments or charitable hospitals catered for wealthy or ‘middle-class’ patients. Holloway Sanatorium, opened in 1885, was one such institution. Thomas Holloway, a multi-millionaire businessman, donated the funds and commissioned the extraordinary gothic-style building and extensive pleasure grounds at Virginia Water. Right next to the railway station, it offered easy access for inmates, visitors and supplies. Some patients at the Sanatorium paid very high fees for the best facilities. This subsidised the charges for those who were rather less well off. The Sanatorium continued as a charitable foundation until 1948, when it was transferred to the National Health Service. It closed as a mental hospital in 1980. After a period of ruinous neglect, it was restored and is now incorporated into an exclusive housing development. |
[Click on the images to see larger copies]
A private sitting room for a wealthy patient, illustrated before the Sanatorium actually opened, The Graphic 22 October 1881, p.425 |
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This illustration of the Sanatorium is in an early pamphlet for potential patients and shows the grand exterior and the closeness of the railway station. Holloway Sanatorium, St Anne’s Heath, Virginia Water.
Rules for the admission, visiting and discharge of patients, about 1885, Surrey History Centre, 2620/6/11. |
The cricket pitch in the Sanatorium’s extensive grounds, illustrated in a publicity brochure.
Some Views of Holloway Sanatorium, St Anne’s Heath, Virginia Water, Surrey, about 1905, Surrey History Centre, Ref 725.5 S1x. 
Recent picture of the main entrance to Virginia Park, an exclusive housing development, which incorporates the immaculately restored Grade 1 listed Sanatorium building. Photograph, about 1996, courtesy of Octagon Developments. |
 
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1. The Holloway Sanatorium
Contributor:Royal Holloway University of London
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