History

Warley Hospital stands on the former Brentwood Hall Estate, once home of the Kavanagh family, before the land was purchased for £8,000 in 1849.

A competition was held among ten selected architects for the design of the hospital; it was won by Kendall and Pope Architects of Brunswick Square, London who supplied an entry in Tudor Style. Construction took two years at a cost of £66,000 and the magnificent psychiatric hospital building opened on 23rd September 1853.

The long corridors of this grand building were called 'galleries' - uniform in design with single rooms, dormitories and day dining rooms opening off the main corridor. The Galleries are amongst the longest in the United Kingdom and were used as corridors of communication rather than their original intended use as recreational space in bad weather.

The hospital was built during a period when the best therapy was considered to be seclusion, fresh air and access to countryside. With this in mind, a succession of six airing courtyards and formal gardens were designed to enhance the surrounding landscape. These designs never came to fruition - the realisation of the buildings original plan is an integral part of our future designs for this site.