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Darenth Asylum for 'imbeciles and school for imbecile children', was erected in 1878 by the managers of the Metropolitan Asylum district (Metropolitan Asylums Board), and constituted one of the largest establishments of its kind. The buildings, at a cost of ten thousand pounds, and were designed by the architects Messrs C and A Harston, of London in the Gothic style. A new wing was added in 1888 at a cost of fifty thousand pounds, to hold 400 'imbecile' children, and a smallpox convalescent hospital was built in Darenth wood, at a cost of sixty-three thousand pounds, for a further 600 patients. The school was used to house nearly 1,000 'imbecile' children and the asylum accommodated 1,500 adults. The grounds and farm comprise about 170 acres, including a small part of Darenth wood. The asylum had its own gas works and the water supply was derived from a well 250 foot deep, the water was then pumped to the two tower tanks at the rate of about 100,000 gallons per day; sewage was disposed of by irrigation on the farm land. One acre of the ground was set apart and consecrated as a cemetery.
The Asylum was one of the first to attempt to train and develop mentally disabled children, by offering schooling and industrial training. So that this training should not have to be stopped at age 16, and trained children return to general asylums where their skills would not be used, the Darenth Adult Asylum was constructed on land adjacent to the school and opened in 1880.
Name changes:
Darenth Asylum and Schools (1878 - 1913)
Darenth Industrial Colony (1913 - 1920)
Darenth Training Colony (1920 - 1937).
In 1937 the name changed to Darenth Park Hospital.
With the creation of National Health Service (NHS) the hospital came under control of South East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board (1948-74) and was managed by Dartford and Darenth Hospital Management Committee (1948-74). From 1974 it came under Dartford and Gravesham District Health Authority, part of South East Thames Regional Health Authority. The hospital closed in 1988. The successor authority as of 2010 was Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust.
See also website managed by Francine Payne: http://www.dartfordhospitalhistories.org.uk/ (correct as of August 2010).