Hey great idea..............this place is more like an hour bicycle ride from home, but I have done it on a number of occasions, its a leisurely ride along the river.......
Bit of History if you dont already know it:
Fairmile asylum was designed by C H Howell the same architect who designed the infamous Cane Hill. Building started in 1867 and the asylum was opened in 1870. Originally built to take 500 patients but just 8 years after opening it was heavily overcrowded and further additions were made again by C H Howell.
Yet more overcrowding around the turn of the century meant that another architect had to be brought in to plan more extensions, this architect was G T Hine the other infamous Asylum builder, this is the only asylum where Howell and Hine "meet".
He added new male and female wards and also an isolation hospital. This made the hospital closely resemble the American ideal hospital plan, the Kirkbride, which is said to resemble a bat with its wings spread. Further additions were made to Fairmile which included a new admissions hospital where patients would be assessed to determine the severity of their condition, and what treatment and ward they would need if they were not to be released.
By the 1940's there were over 1400 patients locked in Fairmile, but due to medical breakthroughs and a change in the way mental illness was treated these numbers dropped to only 220 in 2002 and final closure was in April 2003.
Couple of my favourites
You can see a full set here and here
