Description
Bethlem Royal Hospital purchased the Monks Orchard estate in 1924 and built the hospital here, moving in 1930. The former C18th/C19th landscape park of Wickham Park, now overlaid with a comprehensive design of early-mid C20th buildings, had extensive grounds. There remain numerous specimen trees, beech-hedged garden areas to the west, notable limes in the park to the south, and horse chestnuts along Monks Orchard Road, which was once part of the estate. The site is fronted to Monks Orchard Road with railings, and to the north with extensive laurel and rhododendron. There were extensive walled gardens to the west with backsheds including a mushroom house, but this became derelict and a new secure unit was built on the site in
Practical Information
| Previously known as | Wickham Park, Monks Orchard; The Bethlem Royal Hospital |
|---|---|
| Site location | Monks Orchard Road, Monks Orchard, Beckenham, Kent |
| Postcode | BR3 3BX |
| What3Words | ///hours.flag.online |
| Type of Site | Institutional Grounds |
| Borough | Bromley |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | Bethlem Museum of the Mind/Bethlem Gallery: Wed-Fri, 1st and last Sat of the month: 11am-5pm |
| Facilities | Bethlem Museum of the Mind, Bethlem Gallery; hospital restaurant |
| Public Transport | Rail: Eden Park then bus, East Croydon then bus. Bus: 119, 198, 356 |
| Research Updated | 1 March 2016 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
Landscape gardener William Sawry Gilpin (1762-1843) advised on the layout of the C18th/C19th landscape park of Wickham Park, now much overlaid by early-mid C20th hospital buildings. The Bethlem Royal Hospital was designed by John Cheston and Charles Elcock and was planned to provide 'light, air and space' for patients and staff, with buildings set within the landscape. It consisted originally of four wards in separate buildings with their own catering facilities and gardens, and separate buildings for administration, the nurses' home, a recreation hall, chapel, staff catering facilities and laboratories. In 1948 under new NHS the hospital amalgamated with The Maudsley Hospital in Denmark Hill to form single postgraduate psychiatric teaching hospital.
The first Bethlem Hospital was founded in Bishopsgate in 1247. Originally the Priory of St Mary of Bethlehem, by 1329 it had become a hospital for the sick and by 1403 is known to have housed the mentally ill. Deemed to be too small and the buildings in bad state, a new Bethlem Hospital was built at Moorfields in 1675-76, designed by Robert Hooke. In 1815 the hospital moved again to St George's Fields, Southwark, where it remained until the move to Monks Orchard in 1930. The Southwark building eventually became the Imperial War Museum and the grounds the Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park (q.v.). The famous sculptures of 'Raving and Melancholy Madness' by Caius Gabriel Cibber, which were made for the gates of the 'New Bedlem' hospital in Moorfields are now in the Museum at Monks Orchard. The Museum also has important works from the Bethlem art collection including Richard Dadd, Louis Wain and other artists.
The Walled Garden dating from the early C19th with extensive greenhouses, backsheds, mushroom forcing house, vines etc. was in use by the hospital up until mid 1990s and supplied the hospital with vegetables, fruit. It became much overgrown and its greenhouses semi-derelict, although it was used for gardening projects by the hospital's OT Department. In the early C21st it was built over when River House was constructed, a medium secure forensic unit named as a symbol of a person's journey through illness toward recovery. Adjacent to the south is the old orchard. The grounds near to the mansions are largely built over.
The first Bethlem Hospital was founded in Bishopsgate in 1247. Originally the Priory of St Mary of Bethlehem, by 1329 it had become a hospital for the sick and by 1403 is known to have housed the mentally ill. Deemed to be too small and the buildings in bad state, a new Bethlem Hospital was built at Moorfields in 1675-76, designed by Robert Hooke. In 1815 the hospital moved again to St George's Fields, Southwark, where it remained until the move to Monks Orchard in 1930. The Southwark building eventually became the Imperial War Museum and the grounds the Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park (q.v.). The famous sculptures of 'Raving and Melancholy Madness' by Caius Gabriel Cibber, which were made for the gates of the 'New Bedlem' hospital in Moorfields are now in the Museum at Monks Orchard. The Museum also has important works from the Bethlem art collection including Richard Dadd, Louis Wain and other artists.
The Walled Garden dating from the early C19th with extensive greenhouses, backsheds, mushroom forcing house, vines etc. was in use by the hospital up until mid 1990s and supplied the hospital with vegetables, fruit. It became much overgrown and its greenhouses semi-derelict, although it was used for gardening projects by the hospital's OT Department. In the early C21st it was built over when River House was constructed, a medium secure forensic unit named as a symbol of a person's journey through illness toward recovery. Adjacent to the south is the old orchard. The grounds near to the mansions are largely built over.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ372664 |
|---|---|
| Site Ownership | South London and Maudsley NHS Trust |
| Site Management | 194, 356, 358, 119 (24 hrs), 494 and 198 |
| Dates | C18th - C20th |
| Designers | William Sawry Gilpin, advisor on Wickham Park grounds |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | No |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | Bromley |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | Yes - Borough Importance I |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | Yes |
| Special Policy Area | Yes - part of site: Area of Archaeological Significance (Romanl) |
| Other LA Designation | Area around hospital designated a major development site |
Gallery
Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.
Nearby parks and gardens
High Broom Wood is a linear area of ancient woodland with the River Beck running north/south at the bottom of steep sided banks. Most of the trees are semi-mature having a scrub and bramble understorey. Paths, which in places have traces of metaling, meander through the woods. Occasional open spaces are largely overgrown. There is rich plant life here with a number of rare wetland plants growing. Trees on the higher land include sweet chestnut, oak coppice and birch with alder lower down.
Blake Recreation Ground opened to the public in August 1932, named after the village doctor. It was later renamed Blake Park. The site may have been part of land belonging to Oak Lodge in the C19th, and once part of the Monks Orchard estate now divided from High Broom Wood by Oak Lodge Primary School. The park is a rectangular open space of mown grass with a perimeter tarmac path and is almost completely surrounded by houses, which are largely screened from the site by shrubs and hedges. A children’s playground is situated to the south-east and a sports field to the north. There are a few semi-mature chestnuts, oaks and ornamental pines.
From at least the C16th the area consisted of parkland with a few large houses and farmland. The Harvington Estate, as it has been known since 1964, was formed from land belonging to Eden Farm, built c.1834, and to three houses built from 1871: Harvington, Homewood and Chalfont. The land was acquired at various dates from 1946 onwards and the estate was unified by Beckenham Council in 1964 and given to the people of Beckenham as a public area for sport and recreation as Harvington Sports Ground. The four lodges that once served the houses remained although the houses were demolished.