Although not visited on Saturday September 12th 2026, I did work on the site of the original Horton Hospital (now a still functioning leisure centre) between 2005-2009. In other words, this structure is not open to the general public to walk around (the membership is “paid”). Having said that, near the main entrance of the leisure centre – just before a visitor has to pass through the barriers with ID – there is a plaque and some type of listed structure – which I think is a large mechanical pump operating in its shaft (as this was the “Central Boiler House” that generated electricity for the broader Horton Hospital and the surrounding areas). I never photographed at the time (mobile ‘phones did not routinely take photographs at that time).
Furthermore, I cannot find any pictures online. I think most people are unaware that a) this object exists, or b) the general public are permitted into this “entrance” area of a private members club – providing they do not attempt to pass through the barriers. Either way, there used to be five psychiatric hospitals in the Epsom area (known as the “Cluster”) – which suggests that many more maladies were once considered “mental illness” – even women demanding to vote or have a say. Working-class people “getting ill” so that their labour can no longer be exploited was also considered “psychotic” between earlier and middle part of its history (it existed between 1902-1997). One such unfortunate was a former wrestler who drive an ambulance during the Nazi German bombing of London. He was wounded by shrapnel in the neck – and he was placed in the psychiatric hospital – where he wasted away. He was a British Jewish person surnamed “Solomon” – who is buried in Horton Cemetery. When patients “passed-away” in the hospital – their bodies were processed through the morgue (a required legal process) before being taken to the nearby “Horton Chapel” (the “Chapel of Rest”) where they would lie in a coffin awaiting burial in the nearby “Horton Cemetery”.
What you see above is a modern reworking of what was once termed “Horton Chapel”. Today, it is an arts centre simply term “The Horton”. Initially, we visited the highly overgrown and rough-grounded “Horton Cemetery” – and we then walked a mile or so down the road to the Chapel. This is a very wealthy and exclusive bourgeois area and we were not exactly comfortable in it. I used to teach Taijiquan to the people of this area – so I understand their views (which they are entitled to). The irony is this – much is made of a local history which saw the whole-sale abuse of the disabled and the ill by the British State. Indeed, Epsom Council has made a tourist attraction out of it. Yes – it spreads knowledge – but today the same class of people vote right-wing and have been responsible for the privatisation of the NHS (Horton Hospital was closed due to this process in 1997) and its systematic closing-down. It is now the case that the disabled and the ill “receive no treatment” and are left to die from medical neglect. History is important and it operates through dialectical contradiction. The Horton is a very well organised venue in the most unexpected of places.
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 