Eastry Mental Hospital

After visiting Chartham mental asylum, I wanted to explore more! A friend had seen my photos & asked why she hadn't been invited to come with us & if we would be up for going again, as she was now interested. I suggested we visited Eastry instead, as I knew the area from when I lived in Sandwich. She couldn't wait to come with us & offered to drive us there the next day.

Eastry Union Workhouse on Mill Lane was converted into a mental hospital in 1948 and specialized in the care of people with learning disabilities. I could not find a lot of information on Eastry hospital and went back to my friend who worked at Chartham before it shut in the hope she would be able to help...Fortunately, she had also worked at Eastry and told me they were very different environments to work in. Eastry was smaller and quieter where as Chartham was a lot bigger & had a lot more difficult cases involving surgery & very bad cases that were in a secure part of the hospital.

When Eastry shut many of the patients were re-homed into smaller units (including The Rectory at Ash, which is just down the road), but it was a sad & worrying time as many of the residents from Eastry suffered with downs syndrome & were very vulnerable & were sent out into society, where their security and safety had gone.

Eastry closed its doors in 1997 & large amounts of it have been demolished, what remains are now listed buildings of historical importance.


Here are some of my photos: