War Memorials – Manor Hospital

Back to our main war memorials page

The Manor Mental Hospital Roll of Honour
To read more about an individual please click on their name.
Photograph courtesy of Clive Gilbert 2010

Manor Hospital, one of Epsom’s “cluster” of mental hospitals closed in the 1990s, with the grounds and buildings being subsequently developed for housing. The war memorial, shown above, was removed and is now housed in the museum at Bourne Hall.

As shown, the memorial is a wooden plaque with gold lettering bearing the names of three hospital employees who, having joined the forces, fell in the Great War (who are also commemorated on other memorials in the Borough) and one who fell in the Second World War (who is commemorated in the Book of Remembrance held at the Town Hall.)

The plaque is clearly a post WW2 item. It is open to question whether this replaced a now lost  memorial for the three killed in the Great War.

As noted elsewhere, Horton Hospital (another of Epsom’s “cluster”) was taken over for use as a War Hospital in early 1915. The casualty rate in WW1 was such that this is also what happened to Manor Hospital in late 1916. The following was printed in the Epsom Advertiser on 14 March 1919:

Manor War Hospital

This week has brought the conclusion of the laudable work that has been done at the Manor War Hospital, Epsom. Opened in October 1916, when the demand for hospitals and convalescent homes for the sick and wounded soldiers was so great, this institution has admirably fulfilled the objects for which it was intended and several hundreds of officers and men today have happy recollections of their stay there. In all, 1,034 officers have been treated at the hospital while the total number of NCOs and men is no less than 11,521. Nearly every class of casualty, both “sick” and “battle” has been entrusted to the care of the competent staff and many cases of a serious nature have been skilfully and patiently dealt with. The number of deaths that have occurred is 16, which, having regard to the total number of patients is a low figure. All praise is due to the staff, in particular Miss Neary, Matron, Mrs. Buxton, the Lady Almoner and Col. S. Elgee the Commanding Officer, whose untiring energies for the comfort and happiness of the soldiers were always appreciated. The last patient left on Wednesday and in due course the hospital will be handed over to the civilian authorities to revert to its former use as a mental hospital.