Banstead Village

Banstead Mental Hospital

My grandad was a nurse at Banstead Asylum (now the prison) in the early 1900s.

This is the hospital orchestra which he played for, being paid sixpence.

He was born in 1878 and, like many others who worked at the Asylum, he lived in Belmont Road.

He wrote to his sister in 1903 on leaving a hospital in Canterbury to come to Banstead. He describes Sutton and a town called Croydon being larger than Brighton! He says he was able to see Crystal Palace on a clear day. His hours were 6 to 8 and he had a day and a half off each week.