Design and construction Netherne Asylum was founded on 18 October 1905 to alleviate overcrowding at the existing
Brookwood Asylum near
Woking. The hospital was designed by
George Thomas Hine, Consultant Architect to the
Commissioners in Lunacy to hold 960 patients. The buildings followed the popular compact arrow design, with stepped ward blocks on the outside of a broad semi-circle containing the central services such as the administrative offices, laundry, workshops, water tower, boilers and recreation hall. A freestanding chapel was located to the front of the hospital buildings, while an isolation hospital and patients' cemetery were located some distance to the north of the main buildings. Two died of cerebral haemorrhage, two were discharged (of whom one relapsed); of those remaining in hospital two-thirds had shown at least some improvement, needing less staff time and supervision. Its registration for worship was cancelled in February 2000.
Art therapy and the Adamson Collection From 1946, Netherne became a national centre for
art therapy under
Edward Adamson, a pioneering art therapist and the first chairman of the British Association of Art Therapists. Adamson established five art studios at the hospital, focusing on art as a means for people to express themselves and communicate their feelings. During his time at Netherne, Adamson worked with hundreds of patients, including the painter
William Kurelek and sculptor Rolanda Polonsky. He continued to work at the hospital until his retirement in 1981. Adamson gathered the works of those compelled to live at Netherne in great number, amassing a considerable collection, estimated at 100,000 at his retirement in 1981; and selected works were on show at a purpose-built gallery opened at Netherne in 1956. After Adamson's death in 1996, the Adamson Collection was moved to
Lambeth Hospital, part of
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and during 2012 and 2013 almost all re-located to the
Wellcome Library in anticipation of a securer future in several international institutions. The Adamson Collection now comprises approximately 6,000 paintings, drawings, sculptures and ceramics, and is of great international and historical importance.
Decline and Redevelopment Following a steady decline in patient numbers from almost two thousand in the 1950s and just 150 in 1990, ==Notable patients==