Leybourne Grange is located right beside the M20 near Maidstone. That said, you wouldn’t know it’s there – it covers around 270 acres and is very tree-based. The trees (and fresh air etc) were meant to be good for the patients. 1200 patients.
It opened in 1936, was used for sixty years, and finally closed in 1996. There is a private school on the site which is still in use. The colony was built in the grounds of a huge manor house which still remains. The manor house also has an impressive clock tower.
A lot of the buildings are very well boarded up, but we managed to look in a few.
Hall
First stop was the main hall. This was used to entertain the patients (discos, etc) and also for religious worship as there is no chapel on site.
Inside is a fantastic little buggy, some junk, and a projection booth..
Boiler Room / Engineering
From the outside…
.. and inside is an impressive selection of boilers. There are eight huge ones, and you can climb on top of some of them.
There’s also loads of little rooms with various tools and things. There is also an office.
Kitchen / Laundry
Considering the hospital closed 10 years ago, I can’t beleive how many machines are left in the kitchen and laundry areas…
Nurses Home
This is a behemoth of a building. It’s four storeys high and it housed a million nurses (to confirm?). Every single window is smashed. Apart from the ground floor ones which were all boarded up.
Manor House
The manor house was used as an admin block. It is very secure with alarms and boarding. The clock tower is quite fancy too.
And that’s it. I missed the mortuary. I seem to always miss the mortuary at hospitals (not due to spookiness factor)…
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I’ve been to LG twice this year, planning another trip soon, before more building work is done. First time i went both my digital camera and filming camera went dead, despite being fully charged.Freaky. Went back the second time and they borded up all the doors and bottom floor windows again, only managed to get into one building through a window. If you’re planning to visit inside bring a torch, it’s pitch black inside. Last time i went there was no security, only cctv near the manor house and clock tower.
Holly there are still lots of LG left and it’s brilliant for photography. Another place to think about visiting is West Park Asylum in Epsom, however that place has quite a lot of security.
Hi everyone,
I lived in Snodland from 1970 to 1981 and worked at Leybourne Grange, night shift 7pm – 7am after training and I remeber it well. While I loved working there I was always upset by the children, one in particular who was born perfectly healthy until one day her father threw her down the stairs which resulted in brain damage. All the nurses loved her, she was a sweet little girl. I also remember a kindly elderly lady who was there just because she had a baby out of wedlock when she was 16. I have many more memories, some good and some not so good but all important.
I also remember cooking jacket potatoes in the middle of the night
I am pleased to talk to anyone about this very interesting place.
Christine
I was born in grange close as my parents worked there for many years Tony and Carole Clark, we went to day to catch up on the past and were so disappointed as we couldnt get near to see it, how can you get in to walk around? Tony remembers lots of the past staff names on here.
I have become ever more interested with this site and very shocked that very little information can be found on the internet.
I have therefore taken upon myself the task of putting a website together to share as much information as possible to the public and hopefully bring ex patients and employee back together.
The site is still in the early stages and not yet live and I’m still looking for information and photos.
If anyone has any information they are will to share of their/friends or familys time at laybourne please get in contact with me.
Email : grant.m.chambers@gmail.com
im currently workin here stripping the buildings and ive explored all over the site in every building, TRULY SPOOKY PLACE! bring a torch or 2 and dont get seen by workforce on the new built end of the site
please please could someone please send me some pictures of the hospital when it was open, i hope and imagine it wasnt such a lonely creepy place like it is today.
i have searched and searched for photographs and can only find any of the current state. thankyou i would be very appreciated.
garylewis22@hotmail.co.uk
i have managed to secure 13 patient report books from ’74 to ’76. Filled in daily and nightly by the staff at the time. Very informative and a very interesting read and will also come across other items. anyone interested in these items should leave a message with an email address
I would love to hear more from those books x
Hi am trying to find out more about my uncle(Richard
Bullen, known as Dick) who was a patient there, I
think he was a long term patient, I think he died there
in the 60,s if any staff remember him and know why he
was in there I would very much like to know.
very informative comments. would like to find out about a long term patient who was at Leybourne his name was Richard(Dick) Bullen would like to find out why he was admitted and how long he was there. If any former staff remember him I would love to get information,
Does anyone have a list of the staff, or students from 1939 time frame. My mum listed her address as her residence on the marriage certificate,and we sure would like more information. The name is Edith Kerley.
email any information to me at kellycookster@gmail.com
Thank you
yes we want to know this 2 x me and my parents want to go back and visit
Hi Jon Dilligaf, I would be really interested to see some of the reports you have found. A family member was a patient there from around 1940-1979 her name was Florence Joan Gibbs. My email is laura.bourne@orange-ftgroup.com
it makes me frustrated to here how staff at leybourne grange had such a good time, it’s a shame the same didn’t apply for the residents. I now work with residents that lived at leybourne grange that are extremely effected from the abuse they recieved. one residents in particular still speaks about the things staff use to do to them and will scream when things remind them of the abuse, it’s discusting. Thank god it’s been shut down and new laws and regulations have been put in place, but it sickens me that it’s a few years too late for the residents. so whilst staff get to think of the parties and laffs, just remember the residents still carry with them the scars from the hiddious abuse.