Darenth Park
Encyclopedia
Darenth Park Hospital was founded by the Metropolitan Asylums Board
Metropolitan Asylums Board
The Metropolitan Asylums Board was established under Poor Law legislation, to deal with London's sick poor. It was established by the Metropolitan Poor Act 1867 and was wound up in 1930, its functions being transferred to the London County Council. Despite its name, the MAB was not involved in...

 in Darenth
Darenth
Darenth is a village and civil parish in the Dartford District of Kent, England. The parish is located to the south-east of Dartford town; the village is three miles from there.The ancient parish church is dedicated to St. Margaret of Antioch....

 near Dartford
Dartford
Dartford is the principal town in the borough of Dartford. It is situated in the northwest corner of Kent, England, east south-east of central London....

 in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

 as "Darenth School" for 500 children with learning disabilities on 18 November 1878. By 1890 it housed over 1,000 children and adults.

In 1911 it became the "Darenth Industrial Trading Colony", and was becoming almost self-sufficient in food production and the manufacture of everyday items through the ample supply of free labour.

In 1936, as the age and disability levels of residents increased it became Darenth Park Hospital, and management was transferred from the London County Council
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...

, which had succeeded the Metropolitan Asylums Board in the management of this institution, to the new National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...

 in 1948.

The hospital drew patients from a wide catchment of south-east London and Kent. By 1970 the population had grown to 1,500 and the physical conditions in this grim and vast Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...

 building were increasingly unacceptable by modern standards. The hospital had over 40 wards, of which 10 contained more than 50 residents. Finally in 1973 the Regional Health Board agreed to close Darenth, but the funding and planning required for such a major undertaking took years to put in place.

Darenth Park was the first large regional learning disability institution to close in the UK as a result of the UK Government's policy. Audrey Emerton, Baroness Emerton
Audrey Emerton, Baroness Emerton
Audrey Caroline Emerton, Baroness Emerton, DBE, FRCN is a cross bench member of the House of Lords.Invested before as a Dame Commander, Order of the British Empire, she received a life peerage as Baroness Emerton, of Tunbridge Wells in the County of Kent and of Clerkenwell in the London Borough of...

, the South East Thames Regional Chief nursing officer between 1979 and 1990, was the guiding force behind the replacement programme. During the period from the early 1980s, nearly a thousand residents were resettled to other hospitals, hostels, small group homes and local facilities. In August 1988 the last residents were transferred and the hospital finally shut its doors.

The buildings have been entirely demolished and the new Darent Valley Hospital
Darent Valley Hospital
Darent Valley Hospital is a 478 bed, acute district general hospital in Dartford, Kent, England.The hospital has an Emergency Department alongside an Urgent Care Centre....

built on the site.
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