The Unexpected Beauty of Croydon

On the Surrey National Golf Course in Caterham, a little south of Croydon, there is an unusual feature: the somewhat overgrown burial ground from St Lawrence's Hospital. While Caterham-on-the-Hill is mostly housing now, until the 1990s it was home to military barracks and a large mental hospital, which was formerly an asylum. The patients were those which we would today consider to have learning disabilities.  I had read that the burial ground had been located on the golf course but I wasn't sure how accessible it would be. I took a 466 bus to the Tesco at Caterham-on-the-Hill and walked through a residential estate for about 10 minutes until I reached the end of Drake Avenue, where it meets Fairbourne Lane. There I found the entrance to the public bridleway which crosses the golf course. After walking along a track with high hedges both sides, I found a gate on my right, with a sign on it informing me it was St Lawrence's Burial Ground, inviting me to "enjoy the peace...

"It's too late - there's a housing estate It's called High Royds" - Kaiser Chiefs - Highroyds I realise that housing estates built on former hospitals don't fit everyone's definition of beauty, but this is my blog so you'll have to indulge my bizarre interests. I've included some pretty photos including a fox and a cat. The song Highroyds from the Leeds band Kaiser Chiefs' 2007 album is a look back at their teenage years, testing their courage running around the High Royds asylum opposite the school several band members went to, north of Leeds. Towards the end of the song, in the present day, the band receive word from a relative that the asylum has now been converted into a housing estate. This seems to be the most common fate of former asylums, with typically a few iconic/listed buildings kept and converted  and everything else demolished and replaced with modern housing. Following my previous post about former hospitals and a walk around Ne...

I know old hospitals aren't beautiful places but I think they're fascinating, in an eerie way. The website " Lost Hospitals of London " lists 680 hospitals in its index, nearly all of which no longer exist. The reasons for this are varied, but the establishment of the NHS in 1948 and subsequent centralisation of services is a major one. With the advent of new treatments such as antibiotics and vaccinations, isolation hospitals for infectious diseases such as tuberculosis aren't needed as much. People spend less time in hospital following surgery and more conditions can be treated in outpatient facilities or at home.  Croydon University Hospital, previously known as Mayday hospital, was originally an infirmary built for the nearby Croydon Workhouse. From London Road, the buildings look more modern, but the Woodcroft Wing behind is part of the original infirmary buildings. The stone below is located in a corridor in the Woodcroft Wing and proudly details the workhou...