St. Ebbas Hospital.
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St. Ebbas Hospital was designed by architect William C Clifford Smith in 1903, for London County Council, and made up one of the five mental hospitals and asylums making up the Epsom Cluster, the others being, West Park, Horton, Manor & Long Grove.
The hospital was opened the same year by H.R.H. the Duchess of Fife and the Duke of Fife, K.T., Lord Lieutenant of the County of London.
The site covers 112 acres and consisted of various buildings and villas and in its heyday could house upto nearly 1000 patients at any one time.
Unlike the rest of the Epsom Cluster St. Ebbas did not come under the title of a mental hospital but instead was known as the the Ewell Epileptic Colony, and was the second mental asylum to be built in the Cluster.
The hospital finally closed down in the 1990`s with the exception of a small part which is still in use, apart from that the rest of the site is totally derelict.
Considering the majority of the site closed over ten years ago it is in exceptional condition with some parts incuding the patients quarters looking almost brand new.
Compared to the likes of West Park and other asylums the layout of the site is rather quaint if not a little diferent but still makes and lasting impression.
The main hall still houses the piano and organ that used to entertain the patients and the admin section still retains virtually all its original features right down to paper work that is scattered around every where.
The most impressive find I think we came across was the projection booth which still housed the original projectors still with reels of film in them.
St. Ebbas is and odd one, some sections are filled with character and what you would expect to find in and asylum right down to the decay, but other sections are almost brand new and sport no real interest at all with it appearing so modern.
Aside from that though it was still a very enjoyable explore and one well worth seeing, perhaps the most reason for seeing St. Ebbas is the fact that it is only one of two of the original five asylums still able to explore, the other beeing West Park Asylum.
The rest of the Epsom Cluster, Horton, Manor and Long Grove are now either redeveloped into housing estates or are demolished.
Date : April 2008 : Location : Surrey : Explorers : Havoc : Lawrence : Jaff Fox : Mr Bones : Kate
