Brookwood Hospital, Woking SURREY HISTORY CENTRE

A History of Surrey in 50 Objects: Brookwood Hospital, Woking SURREY HISTORY CENTRE

Brookwood Hospital, Woking

Brookwood Hospital opened in 1867 as Brookwood Asylum and was the leading mental hospital for the West of Surrey.

Established to complement the Springfield Asylum in Tooting, Brookwood Hospital was the second County Asylum and was able to hold 650 pauper lunatics.

Brookwood was sited on 150 acres of land which lay between the Basingstoke canal and the village of Knaphill, four miles west of Woking.

During the 127 years of its operation, the hospital developed considerably. It was self-sufficient with, among other things, its own dairy, cobbler’s, sewage farm, fire-brigade and chapel. Later came a reception hospital, then library and conference centre.

Following the opening of the sick hospital in 1938, patient capacity peaked at 1,753.

The hospital closed in 1994

Image courtesy of Surrey History Centre

This is one of our History of Surrey in 50 Objects. It was chosen from around 150 items suggested by the Curators and Collections Officers of Surrey Museums to represent a moment, person or event which shaped or changed our county.

Visit the Explore Our Collections page on this site to see all 50 objects.