Description
Maudsley Hospital was built on Denmark Hill and completed in 1915. In 1939 two new buildings were added, a Private Patients' Block and a Children's Block, and the grounds were laid out by the LCC Chief Parks Officer, A R Mawson. Both buildings were designed with roof gardens and that of the Private Patients Block, Mapother House, survived with its original structure intact, including statuary, wooden benches, planters and raised grass plots. It was awaiting restoration in 2002 but since then has sadly been cleared and the garden no longer in use for health and safety reasons. Mapother House is now due for redevelopment as housing.
Practical Information
| Site location | De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill |
|---|---|
| Postcode | SE5 8AZ |
| What3Words | ///edges.headed.shell |
| Type of Site | Institutional Grounds |
| Borough | Southwark |
| Open to Public | By appointment only |
| Opening Times | (current status of roof garden unknown) |
| Public Transport | Rail: Denmark Hill. Bus: 40, 42, 68, 176, 185, 468, 484 |
| Research Updated | 1 August 2022 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
The Maudsley Hospital was founded in 1907 at the instigation of eminent psychiatrist Dr Henry Maudsley who offered £30,000 to the LCC towards building a new mental hospital, the sum representing half the building cost. He stipulated that it should not follow Victorian style asylums but that it should be small and be for early and acute cases only, and that it was to have research facilities, to become a medical school of University of London and to be within 3 or 4 miles of central London. It was completed in 1915 but due to the war, it was initially used as a military hospital, not opening as an LCC mental hospital until 1923.
In 1939 two new buildings were added, a Private Patients' Block and a Children's Block, designed by the LCC Architects Department and completed under E P Wheeler, Chief Architect from 1935-39, and both buildings had roof gardens. The Private Patients' Block was named Mapother House after Professor Edward Mapother, the first medical superintendent. The pamphlet produced for the opening of the Mapother House Roof Garden stated that 'an attractive roof garden has been planned which will cater especially for those needing greater privacy than a downstairs garden, overlooked from above, will provide'. The building has two wings either side of a central core producing a 'W' shape, both of which had roof gardens of identical features.
Since 2002 the garden has been cleared to add waterproofing to the roof and the garden no longer in use for reasons of health and safety. At the time of writing, Mapother House itself is due to be redeveloped for housing.
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) and its partners are investing £140 million in modern mental healthcare services and facilities at the Maudsley Hospital site, in order to provide better care and experience for local people. The upgrades have formed a Masterplan that includes three initial phases, the third of which will see the redevelopment of Mapother House, Michael Rutter Centre and Professorial Buildings, which are deemed to be outdated and 'no longer fit for 21st century mental healthcare'. The transformation of Douglas Bennett House into a modern inpatient facility has already received planning permission, and the application for the New Pears Maudsley Centre for Children and Young People was approved in November 2020. Subject to obtaining planning permission, SLaM is looking to start work on site in 2024.
In 1939 two new buildings were added, a Private Patients' Block and a Children's Block, designed by the LCC Architects Department and completed under E P Wheeler, Chief Architect from 1935-39, and both buildings had roof gardens. The Private Patients' Block was named Mapother House after Professor Edward Mapother, the first medical superintendent. The pamphlet produced for the opening of the Mapother House Roof Garden stated that 'an attractive roof garden has been planned which will cater especially for those needing greater privacy than a downstairs garden, overlooked from above, will provide'. The building has two wings either side of a central core producing a 'W' shape, both of which had roof gardens of identical features.
Since 2002 the garden has been cleared to add waterproofing to the roof and the garden no longer in use for reasons of health and safety. At the time of writing, Mapother House itself is due to be redeveloped for housing.
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) and its partners are investing £140 million in modern mental healthcare services and facilities at the Maudsley Hospital site, in order to provide better care and experience for local people. The upgrades have formed a Masterplan that includes three initial phases, the third of which will see the redevelopment of Mapother House, Michael Rutter Centre and Professorial Buildings, which are deemed to be outdated and 'no longer fit for 21st century mental healthcare'. The transformation of Douglas Bennett House into a modern inpatient facility has already received planning permission, and the application for the New Pears Maudsley Centre for Children and Young People was approved in November 2020. Subject to obtaining planning permission, SLaM is looking to start work on site in 2024.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ326761 |
|---|---|
| Site Ownership | South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust |
| Site Management | South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust |
| Dates | 1939 |
| Designers | LCC: E P Wheeler (architect) |
| Listed Structures | LBII: Maudsley Hospital; railings on east side of Denmark Hill |
| 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 | Southwark |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
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
This is a long narrow garden that separates the C19th houses of Grove Crescent from Camberwell Grove. Prior to becoming a road, this was an avenue of trees called Walnut Tree Grove, which led from an old Manor House of Camberwell Buckingham to the top of the hill. The manor house was demolished in 1776 when the estate was sold and the area began to be developed. It became popular among well-to-do people, with many fine houses built here.
The medieval church of St Giles served a large parish comprising the villages at Camberwell, Peckham and Dulwich, the area later engulfed by housing. The present church of St Giles was built in 1842-44 when the earlier church was destroyed in a fire in 1841, only its porch remaining. The new church was Sir George Gilbert Scott's first major gothic building. The walled churchyard was in use until 1856, having been enlarged in 1717, 1803 and 1825. After its closure it became neglected and part was lost when Peckham Road was widened. It was cleared of graves in 1939 and laid out as a public garden, with headstones forming a wall on the northern end. It contains mature trees and a few tombs remain in the grass.
* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens
Ruskin Park is an Edwardian park named for John Ruskin who lived nearby. The land was originally the gardens of several large houses that were purchased in 1906 by the LCC. The park opened in 1907; an extension to the south was acquired in 1909 and opened in 1910. The park contains an architectural fragment from one of the houses demolished for the park, converted as a shelter, and many features remain from the early layout by the LCC's Head of Parks Lt Col J J Sexby, including the Old English Garden, oval pond, bowling green, bandstand and mature trees.
Ruskin Park is an Edwardian park named for John Ruskin who lived nearby. The land was originally the gardens of several large houses that were purchased in 1906 by the LCC. The park opened in 1907; an extension to the south was acquired in 1909 and opened in 1910. The park contains an architectural fragment from one of the houses demolished for the park, converted as a shelter, and many features remain from the early layout by the LCC's Head of Parks Lt Col J J Sexby, including the Old English Garden, oval pond, bowling green, bandstand and mature trees.