Construction and expansion The Oakwood Hospital was founded as the "Kent County Lunatic Asylum" in 1833. It was designed as one building, commonly referred to as St Andrew's House, using an early corridor design by the surveyor to the County of
Kent,
John Whichcord Snr (who also designed
Maidstone County Gaol). It was erected between 1829 and 1833 on a site in
Barming Heath, just to the west of
Maidstone. The asylum was intended to take in patients from across the entire county of Kent, which then stretched as far west as
Greenwich. The first 168 patients were admitted in 1833. As the asylum expanded, additions and extensions were made to this building until it had reached maximum potential capacity. In 1850 an additional building, known as The Queen's House, was built on newly acquired land at the site. This building was also designed by the architect John Whichcord Snr. In the mid-nineteenth century, the superintendent of the asylum was Dr James Huxley (1821-1907), the elder brother of
Thomas Henry Huxley, the evolutionary biologist and friend of
Charles Darwin. Further expansion took place between 1867 and 1872 with the building of the third asylum block (also known as the Hermitage Block).
Closure and redevelopment Following the introduction of
Care in the Community in the early 1980s and also the transfer of some services to
Maidstone Hospital, Oakwood Hospital then became known as the Maidstone Hospital (Psychiatric Wing). The hospital closed completely in 1994. St Andrew's House,{{cite web|title=St Andrew's House at Oakwood Hospital, Maidstone ==Gallery==