Inventory Site Record

Maudsley Hospital was built on Denmark Hill and completed in 1915. In 1939 two new buildings were added, a Private Patients' Block and a Children's Block, and the grounds were laid out by the LCC Chief Parks Officer, A R Mawson. Both buildings were designed with roof gardens and that of the Private Patients Block, Mapother House, survived with its original structure intact, including statuary, wooden benches, planters and raised grass plots. It was awaiting restoration in 2002 but since then has sadly been cleared and the garden no longer in use for health and safety reasons. Mapother House is now due for redevelopment as housing.

Site location:

De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill

Postcode:

SE5 8AZ

What 3 Words:

edges.headed.shell

Type of site:

Institutional Grounds

Borough:

Southwark

Open to public?

By appointment only

Opening times:

(current status of roof garden unknown)

Special conditions:

Facilities:

Events:

Public transport:

Rail: Denmark Hill. Bus: 40, 42, 68, 176, 185, 468, 484

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Google Map    
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Research updated:

01/08/2022

Last minor changes:

01/08/2022

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.slam.nhs.uk

The Maudsley Hospital was founded in 1907 at the instigation of eminent psychiatrist Dr Henry Maudsley who offered £30,000 to the LCC towards building a new mental hospital, the sum representing half the building cost. He stipulated that it should not follow Victorian style asylums but that it should be small and be for early and acute cases only, and that it was to have research facilities, to become a medical school of University of London and to be within 3 or 4 miles of central London. It was completed in 1915 but due to the war, it was initially used as a military hospital, not opening as an LCC mental hospital until 1923.

In 1939 two new buildings were added, a Private Patients' Block and a Children's Block, designed by the LCC Architects Department and completed under E P Wheeler, Chief Architect from 1935-39, and both buildings had roof gardens. The Private Patients' Block was named Mapother House after Professor Edward Mapother, the first medical superintendent. The pamphlet produced for the opening of the Mapother House Roof Garden stated that 'an attractive roof garden has been planned which will cater especially for those needing greater privacy than a downstairs garden, overlooked from above, will provide'. The building has two wings either side of a central core producing a 'W' shape, both of which had roof gardens of identical features.

Since 2002 the garden has been cleared to add waterproofing to the roof and the garden no longer in use for reasons of health and safety. At the time of writing, Mapother House itself is due to be redeveloped for housing.

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) and its partners are investing £140 million in modern mental healthcare services and facilities at the Maudsley Hospital site, in order to provide better care and experience for local people. The upgrades have formed a Masterplan that includes three initial phases, the third of which will see the redevelopment of Mapother House, Michael Rutter Centre and Professorial Buildings, which are deemed to be outdated and 'no longer fit for 21st century mental healthcare'. The transformation of Douglas Bennett House into a modern inpatient facility has already received planning permission, and the application for the New Pears Maudsley Centre for Children and Young People was approved in November 2020. Subject to obtaining planning permission, SLaM is looking to start work on site in 2024.

Sources consulted:

Patricia Allderidge, 'The Bethlem Royal Hospital: An Illustrated History', Bethlem and Maudsley NHS Trust, 1995

Grid ref:

TQ326761 (532700,176251)

Size in hectares:

Site ownership:

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Site management:

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Date(s):

1939

Designer(s):

LCC: E P Wheeler (architect)

Listed structures:

LBII: Maudsley Hospital; railings on east side of Denmark Hill

On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens:

No

Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965:

No

Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931:

No

Local Authority Data

The information below is taken from the relevant Local Authority's planning legislation, which was correct at the time of research but may have been amended in the interim. Please check with the Local Authority for latest planning information.

On Local List:

No

In Conservation Area:

No

Tree Preservation Order:

No

Nature Conservation Area:

No

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

No

Special Policy Area:

No

Other LA designation:

None