Manor Asylum, Epsom

The Manor Hospital was opened by the London County Council in 1899 for the treatment of persons detained under the Lunacy Acts. It initially consisted of a series of huts erected close to the previously derelict Horton Manor, which was adapted to provide administrative and staff facilities. By 1909 ten permanent brick buildings had been added to the hospital. Between 12 August 1916 and 1 April 1919 The Manor was used to treat military casualties. It reverted to a mental hospital after the war before becoming a hospital for the mentally handicapped from 1922 until its closure in 1994. Unlike many other mental hospitals The Manor was primarily used to care for and rehabilitate improveable and trainable patients. Its staff, training facilities and accommodation were developed accordingly. From 1948 the hospital devoted itself to the training of moderately handicapped, disturbed adolescents and young adults and gained an international reputation in the field of industrial and behaviour therapy.

The Manor Hospital was managed by the LCC until the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948 when responsibility for it passed to its own Hospital Management Committee under the aegis of the South West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. Under the National Health Service Reorganisation Act, 1973, the hospital became part of the Mid-Surrey Area Health Authority.

Important: please note that any patient records less than 100 years old and staff records less than 75 years old are likely to have access restrictions. Individual records are not available to view through this website. For details on viewing records please see the Access To Mental Hospital Records page.

The main accession numbers to find records for the Manor Asylum at Surrey History Centre are 2865, 6280, 6282, 6317, 6380, 6390, and 7329. Click on the links to see the individual catalogues of these accessions which provide item descriptions.

The principal series of records held at Surrey History Centre relating to individual patients are as follows, although there are gaps in some series.

Admissions Registers, 1899-1950, 1966-1970
These provide information relating to patients' names, reference numbers, date of admission, date of reception order, date of continuation of the order, sex, marital status, occupation, address, union, county or borough to which chargeable, form of mental disorder, supposed cause and duration of attacks, bodily health and the date of discharge, removal or death. The names of hospitals from which or to which a patient was transferred are also given.

Ward Admission Books, 1922-1952
These record the name, age, weight, height, occupation, marital status and religious denomination of patients admitted to The Manor Hospital. Other information includes whether the patient was subject to epileptic fits, disposed to self injury, violent to others, or of unclean habits. They were compiled at the time of admission to the hospital and record which ward the patient was assigned to, stating whether a bath was necessary, where they were to sleep, the name of the nurse who was to care for them and dietary instructions. The name of the workhouse or infirmary whence they had been referred was also given.

Medical Registers, 1907-1921
Details include date of admission, civil register number, date of discharge, transfer or death, patient's name and whether private or pauper, marital status, occupation, age on admission, type of attacks, duration of attacks, aetiological factors, bodily state on admission, form of mental disorder and observations.

Civil Registers, 1907-1921
Details include the date of any previous admission, general reference number, admission date, date of reception order, date of continuation of the reception order, whether the patient was directly admitted to the asylum or transferred, patient's name, private or pauper status, address, previous institution, sex, marital status, religion, county or borough.

General Registers, 1949-1964
These were compiled under the Medical Treatment Rules, 1948. Details include admission date, general reference number, name, sex, age, whether voluntary, temporary or certified, whether a private, NHS or criminal patient, mode of admission, whether previously dealt with under the Lunacy Act, date of departure, discharge, removal or death and observations.

Alphabetical Registers, 1899-c.1982
These provide details of the date of admission, reference number, patient's name, the union to which they were chargeable (until 1929), whether they were removed from the asylum or died there and the date of removal or death.

Reception Orders, c.1910-c.1970
These include the date of admission, date of reception order, general reference number, name of patient, dates upon which the order was renewed and remarks. Each page relates to orders issued on one particular date over a period of years.

Medical Treatment Registers, c.1925-1951
These also include registers of mechanical restraint and seclusion, 1936-1985, disease registers, 1902-1942 and an operations register, 1931-1951.

Addresses of Patients and Patients’ Friends, 1899-1921
These can be very useful for tracing other members of the patient’s family.

Discharge registers and Transfer registers, 1899-1950

Registers of Deaths, 1909-1947
These provide details of the date of death, the date of the last admission, the number of the patient in the civil register, the name of the patient and whether they are private or pauper, their sex, age, the duration of their last attack of mental illness, the forms of their disorder on admission and at death, the principal and contributory causes of death and whether these were confirmed by a post-mortem. For registers of the Horton Cemetery that served all of the Epsom Cluster hospitals between c.1902 and 1955, see 6376 (click the link to see the archive record). An index to these registers has been prepared by Surrey History Centre volunteers, Mike and Gill Couper.

Post Mortem Registers, 1899-1991

Case Books And Papers, 1899-c.1975
These include case books, 1899-1915, private patient case books, 1899-1916, loose case notes 1899-1916 and results of patient intelligence tests, 1955-1975.

Medical Journals, 1899-1965
These are daily summaries of the number of patients in the hospital. They list those in seclusion, describing the period of and reason for the treatment. They also list those undergoing medical treatment and describe the nature of their bodily disorder. Deaths, injuries and violence among the patients are also recorded.

Ward Report Books, 1958-1972
These daily or nightly records are useful for obtaining further details of a patient’s admission, care or death.

Photographs of patients and staff, c.1900-c.1930

Staff registers, 1899-c.1965

Staff Character books, 1922-1975

Contributor:Surrey Heritage