St. Francis' Hospital
| St. Francis' Hospital | |
|---|---|
| Opened | 1859 |
| Closed | 1995 |
| Current Status | Preserved |
| Building Style | Corridor Plan |
| Architect(s) | H.E.Kendall |
| Location | Hayward Heath |
| Alternate Names |
|
History[edit]
The hospital, which was designed by Henry Edward Kendall Jr. in the Italianate style using a corridor plan layout, opened as the Sussex County Asylum in July 1859. An extra story was added to the ward blocks in 1864.
Thirty years after the asylum's opening it was already inadequate to house the patients seeking admission and it became necessary to enter into contracts with the visiting committees of other asylums to accommodate them. This was both expensive and unsatisfactory and in 1892 the problem was to some extent alleviated by the withdrawal of West Sussex County Council, which the Lunacy Act 1890 made responsible for the provision of a separate asylum, from the arrangement to maintain the one at Haywards Heath - which was renamed the East Sussex County Lunatic Asylum. The two remaining partners, East Sussex County Council and Brighton Borough Council, could not agree about their future relationship and after an arbitrator's award East Sussex withdrew to establish it's county asylum at Hellingly; the Haywards Heath establishment became the Brighton County Borough Asylum in October 1903. Its name was changed to the Brighton County Borough Mental Hospital in 1919.
In 1948 the hospital (now called St Francis Hospital) became part of the National Health Service and was run by a Hospital Management Committee which also ran the Lady Chichester Hospital in Hove: see HC 74. In 1974 when the National Health Service was reorganized St Francis Hospital was placed in the Cuckfield and Crawley Health District and owing to boundary changes found itself in the West Sussex Area Health Authority and South-West Thames Regional Health Authority; in 1982, on the abolition of area health authorities, the Cuckfield and Crawley Health District was re-named the Mid-Downs District Health Authority.
A new district general hospital, the Princess Royal, was built on part of the asylum's grounds and opened in 1991. From 1992 to 1995. St Francis Hospital was designated the West Wing of the Princess Royal Hospital. In November 1995 the last 16 patients were transferred to a psychiatric unit in the new hospital and St Francis closed. Its main building was sold to a property developer for conversion to high quality apartments.
