NATS Trail 1: Box Mad House
Longsplatt to Kingsdown House Jenny Hobbs and Alan Payne June 2016 Box NATS and Box People and Places combined resources to explore more of Box's history. On the first trail we walked from the layby at Longsplatt to the estate at Kingsdown House and attempted to solve various questions: why is Box Mad House, the oldest licensed mental asylum in England situated in Box, why is it at the top of Doctor's Hill and what is the graffiti on the walls of Kingsdown House and its boundaries? |
Longsplatt
The word splatt means an irregular plot of land. It is obvious when walking along the road that the verge is much wider than usually expected. The width of the track was shown as early as 1630 in Francis Allen's map of the area. There must be a reason why local farmers didn’t extend their fields to the maximum. We explored possible reasons why the road is so wide from the layby up to the junction with Henley Lane and the possibility that this may be an ancient droving road or alternatively pasturage for drovers herding animals on the Old Bath Road.
The word splatt means an irregular plot of land. It is obvious when walking along the road that the verge is much wider than usually expected. The width of the track was shown as early as 1630 in Francis Allen's map of the area. There must be a reason why local farmers didn’t extend their fields to the maximum. We explored possible reasons why the road is so wide from the layby up to the junction with Henley Lane and the possibility that this may be an ancient droving road or alternatively pasturage for drovers herding animals on the Old Bath Road.
Longsplatt Quarry
The quarry was opened in 1893 by the Northey Stone Company Ltd with four miners and twelve men in the stoneyard. The foreman was Frank Greenman, uncle of Nellie Moules who lived at Henley Cottages for many years. Three years later it was leased to James & William Turner from Cardiff, who called themselves the United Stone Firms Ltd. By 1907 it wasn't producing enough stone, which had to be bought in and it was worked out within 20 years and went into liquidation in 1913.
It had a 45 degree sloping shaft which was accessed down steps to the quarry face. On the surface was a substantial stoneyard (seen below left) and a horse-gin to pull the stone to the surface. Buildings in the yard incuded stables for the horses and masonry offices to plan the measurements needed and organise the cutting of the stone. Both pictures courtesy Ray Bowden.
The quarry was opened in 1893 by the Northey Stone Company Ltd with four miners and twelve men in the stoneyard. The foreman was Frank Greenman, uncle of Nellie Moules who lived at Henley Cottages for many years. Three years later it was leased to James & William Turner from Cardiff, who called themselves the United Stone Firms Ltd. By 1907 it wasn't producing enough stone, which had to be bought in and it was worked out within 20 years and went into liquidation in 1913.
It had a 45 degree sloping shaft which was accessed down steps to the quarry face. On the surface was a substantial stoneyard (seen below left) and a horse-gin to pull the stone to the surface. Buildings in the yard incuded stables for the horses and masonry offices to plan the measurements needed and organise the cutting of the stone. Both pictures courtesy Ray Bowden.
Prospect House
This was a grand Georgian mansion built in the 1810s by Dr Charles Cunningham Langworthy, owner of the Kingsdown Mad House. The business was thriving with Poor Rates paying for admissions and Charles owned several properties including some in the Royal Circus and New Street, Bath but Prospect House has now completely disappeared. We don't know if the house was on the left or right of Longsplatt but the illustration below appears to show it on the north side.
It was obviously a very grand property as recorded in the Bath Chronicle of September 1822 at the time of the twenty-first birthday party of Dr Langworthy's son, Robert Austin:
On the coming of age of his only son Dr Langworthy of Prospect House gave a splendid treat for 200 of the tenantry of Box and its vicinity. The morning was ushered in by the discharge of 21 rounds of canon and a band played at intervals. A table was spread upon the lawn, a sheep was roasted whole, a fine ox dressed, and a profusion of plum puddings covered the festive board. In the evening the house was brilliantly illuminated and an immense bonfire was lighted upon Kingsdown. At seven dancing commenced which was kept up to a late hour.
This was a grand Georgian mansion built in the 1810s by Dr Charles Cunningham Langworthy, owner of the Kingsdown Mad House. The business was thriving with Poor Rates paying for admissions and Charles owned several properties including some in the Royal Circus and New Street, Bath but Prospect House has now completely disappeared. We don't know if the house was on the left or right of Longsplatt but the illustration below appears to show it on the north side.
It was obviously a very grand property as recorded in the Bath Chronicle of September 1822 at the time of the twenty-first birthday party of Dr Langworthy's son, Robert Austin:
On the coming of age of his only son Dr Langworthy of Prospect House gave a splendid treat for 200 of the tenantry of Box and its vicinity. The morning was ushered in by the discharge of 21 rounds of canon and a band played at intervals. A table was spread upon the lawn, a sheep was roasted whole, a fine ox dressed, and a profusion of plum puddings covered the festive board. In the evening the house was brilliantly illuminated and an immense bonfire was lighted upon Kingsdown. At seven dancing commenced which was kept up to a late hour.
Prospect Cottages
We don't know why Prospect House fell into ruin so soon after it was built. After the death of Robert Austin Langworthy in 1850 his wife, Elizabeth, took over the running of the asylum but she was involved in legal problems and soon afterwards Prospect House was let (at one time to Dr John Nash who had taken over the asylum), then put up for sale. It was falling into a state of disrepair.
We don't know why Prospect House fell into ruin so soon after it was built. After the death of Robert Austin Langworthy in 1850 his wife, Elizabeth, took over the running of the asylum but she was involved in legal problems and soon afterwards Prospect House was let (at one time to Dr John Nash who had taken over the asylum), then put up for sale. It was falling into a state of disrepair.
In 1867 tenders were requested for the demolition of Prospect House and the building of eight cottages on the site. The cottages were built using the stone from Prospect House as an investment, neat and respectable properties comprising four rooms, and each one let out to lower middle class tenants. It is unclear if Elizabeth's legal and financial problems caused Prospect House to decline or if it was built on the junction between the limestone and underlying Fullers Earth clay, which appears on this side of Box.
Parish Boundary Markers
One of the ashlar blocks from the house has been used in the boundary wall which shows a curious inscription on it, the letter D (below left). Whilst stone inscriptions are common in this area, this one is different. It is a curious reminder that Box is divided between two separate church parishes, Ditteridge and Box. There are about twenty similar boundary markers throughout the parish, one of the best examples is in front of The Bungalow, Ditteridge (below right), which shows B for Box, now obscured on the Prospect marker.
One of the ashlar blocks from the house has been used in the boundary wall which shows a curious inscription on it, the letter D (below left). Whilst stone inscriptions are common in this area, this one is different. It is a curious reminder that Box is divided between two separate church parishes, Ditteridge and Box. There are about twenty similar boundary markers throughout the parish, one of the best examples is in front of The Bungalow, Ditteridge (below right), which shows B for Box, now obscured on the Prospect marker.
Kingsdown Mad House
Only a few hundred yards from Prospect Cottages is the historic Kingsdown Mad House. It was first mentioned in documents in 1615, half a century before the English Civil War, and it was used as a local landmark, a mini-estate with several houses, in a map of 1773 when it was called Box Mad House.
It had a varied history over the centuries. It started as an establishment for local people who were funded by village ratepayers from the Elizabethan Poor Law. Afterwards it was a private institution for the relatives of the well-to-do. In the years around the First World War it became a place of caring under Dr MacBryan, almost like an old people's home in the years before the National Health Service started.
The earliest part of the house is still standing in the centre of a complex of houses but there have been many later extensions and improvements, including houses for the acute insane who were locked away and controlled through spy holes in the doors. And there were separate dining rooms for genteel ladies and gentlemen, restful gardens and even a lawn tennis court.
Only a few hundred yards from Prospect Cottages is the historic Kingsdown Mad House. It was first mentioned in documents in 1615, half a century before the English Civil War, and it was used as a local landmark, a mini-estate with several houses, in a map of 1773 when it was called Box Mad House.
It had a varied history over the centuries. It started as an establishment for local people who were funded by village ratepayers from the Elizabethan Poor Law. Afterwards it was a private institution for the relatives of the well-to-do. In the years around the First World War it became a place of caring under Dr MacBryan, almost like an old people's home in the years before the National Health Service started.
The earliest part of the house is still standing in the centre of a complex of houses but there have been many later extensions and improvements, including houses for the acute insane who were locked away and controlled through spy holes in the doors. And there were separate dining rooms for genteel ladies and gentlemen, restful gardens and even a lawn tennis court.
Mysterious Graffiti
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect are the hundreds of inscriptions marked on the stones of the walls and buildings. We don’t know who made them or their purpose. These are just some of the graffiti inscriptions.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect are the hundreds of inscriptions marked on the stones of the walls and buildings. We don’t know who made them or their purpose. These are just some of the graffiti inscriptions.
A few of the inscriptions have a date of 1806, more have quasi-military words such as Royal, Ordnance and possibly Trafalgar. Could it be that some of the graffiti is by war-weary servicemen after the Napoleonic Wars?
Owners of Kingsdown House
James Jeffries
In 1749 James Jeffries (sometimes spelt Jefferys) was the owner and seems to have been a fairly enlightened proprietor of a lunatic asylum for those times. There are letters from a patient, John Ruddle, a weaver by trade, who firmly believed himself to be the King of Prussia and he wrote to his son addressing him as Prince Ferdinand, Prince of Brunswick.
Charles Cunningham Langworthy
Dr CC Langworthy was a Bristol surgeon, who moved to Bath to set up what he described as a metallic practice. He became the sales agent for an American, Benjamin Perkins, the son of the inventor of Perkinean Electricity otherwise known as a Mechanical Tractor. It was used to ease the pain of many common inflammatory conditions such as gout.
Dr CC Langworthy was something of a rogue. In 1819 Edward Wakefield, a gentleman on a tour of inspection of madhouses wrote that at Langworthy’s House there were forty patients and nine servants. He saw two women, nearly naked on straw in a cellar and four others completely naked on straw in a dark room. Wakefield commented in the course of my visiting these places I never recollect to have seen four living persons in such a wretched place. An inspection by Commissioners in 1844 says there were about 130 patients, mainly paupers, who paid between 7 and 9 shillings per week, many out of local Poor Law.
Dr Robert Austin Langworthy
On his retirement his only son took over the Box Mad House but there was a dramatic change in the viability of private houses when New County Asylums (like Roundway in Devizes) became compulsory in 1845. At this time the term asylums came into use rather than Mad House. as Dr Robert described how he had taken most of his contracts with the unions and had enlarged his premises accordingly that now the patients should be taken from him.
Instead Dr Robert turned the house into a fee-paying establishment for private patients and ran it on more humane lines. In 1848 a novel cricket match was put on by the patients:
A game of cricket was played last Thursday in a field near the Lunatic Asylum, Box, by 22 of Dr Langworthy's patients. The appearances of the players was most satisfactory: a spectator could hardly have thought them more mad than the villagers.
In the evening Dr Langworthy entertained the players at the Queen's Head Inn, Box.
James Jeffries
In 1749 James Jeffries (sometimes spelt Jefferys) was the owner and seems to have been a fairly enlightened proprietor of a lunatic asylum for those times. There are letters from a patient, John Ruddle, a weaver by trade, who firmly believed himself to be the King of Prussia and he wrote to his son addressing him as Prince Ferdinand, Prince of Brunswick.
Charles Cunningham Langworthy
Dr CC Langworthy was a Bristol surgeon, who moved to Bath to set up what he described as a metallic practice. He became the sales agent for an American, Benjamin Perkins, the son of the inventor of Perkinean Electricity otherwise known as a Mechanical Tractor. It was used to ease the pain of many common inflammatory conditions such as gout.
Dr CC Langworthy was something of a rogue. In 1819 Edward Wakefield, a gentleman on a tour of inspection of madhouses wrote that at Langworthy’s House there were forty patients and nine servants. He saw two women, nearly naked on straw in a cellar and four others completely naked on straw in a dark room. Wakefield commented in the course of my visiting these places I never recollect to have seen four living persons in such a wretched place. An inspection by Commissioners in 1844 says there were about 130 patients, mainly paupers, who paid between 7 and 9 shillings per week, many out of local Poor Law.
Dr Robert Austin Langworthy
On his retirement his only son took over the Box Mad House but there was a dramatic change in the viability of private houses when New County Asylums (like Roundway in Devizes) became compulsory in 1845. At this time the term asylums came into use rather than Mad House. as Dr Robert described how he had taken most of his contracts with the unions and had enlarged his premises accordingly that now the patients should be taken from him.
Instead Dr Robert turned the house into a fee-paying establishment for private patients and ran it on more humane lines. In 1848 a novel cricket match was put on by the patients:
A game of cricket was played last Thursday in a field near the Lunatic Asylum, Box, by 22 of Dr Langworthy's patients. The appearances of the players was most satisfactory: a spectator could hardly have thought them more mad than the villagers.
In the evening Dr Langworthy entertained the players at the Queen's Head Inn, Box.
Henry Crawford MacBryan
Dr Henry Crawford MacBryan was the resident physician in the twentieth century and ran the house almost like an old people's home mostly for upper and middle classes suffering from diseases of the brain and nervous system. In 1903 the house was licensed for 33 ladies and 10 men with fees ranging from 2 to 5 guineas a week. The house had recently installed gas lighting replacing oil lamps, and had a billiards room and plenty of books. First-class residents could have personal servants and private carriages.
On Dr MacBryan's death in 1943 the property was inherited by his son, Mr Gerald MacBryan. In the 1930s Gerald courted the daughter of his employer, the Rajah of Sarawak, but failed. He converted to Islam and married a Muslim woman. With the outbreak of the Second World War he returned to Sarawak, leaving the Box establishment in the hands of his staff. He died in Hong Kong in November 1946, described by a member of staff as a down and out in filthy rags trying to direct the street traffic, although he had thousands of dollars in the bank. The mad house was closed down and by 1948 it was converted into private residences..
Answers to Questions Posed in Heading
Box wasn't the only Mad House from the 1600s but the others diasppeared. Box's survival was due to the way it responded to economic circumstances, taking advantage of Poor Law rates in some periods, and seeking private residents at others. At times, it was a cash cow for the owners who became fabulously wealthy and built huge mansions for themselves.
It had other advantages. It was conveniently close to the main medieval highway between London and Bristol and onwards to Wales. Its location at the top of Doctors' Hill meant it was never a problem to residents in Box and in a private secure environment for those seeking to hide away unwanted relatives.
And the reason for the graffiti which adorn the walls of the buildings and the external boundary wall? Your guess is as good as mine but it doesn't appear to relate to Logsplatt Quarry. Many of the blocks in the external walls seem to me to have a similar script, probably carved by bored residents and later used out of sequence when the wall was rebuilt.
Dr Henry Crawford MacBryan was the resident physician in the twentieth century and ran the house almost like an old people's home mostly for upper and middle classes suffering from diseases of the brain and nervous system. In 1903 the house was licensed for 33 ladies and 10 men with fees ranging from 2 to 5 guineas a week. The house had recently installed gas lighting replacing oil lamps, and had a billiards room and plenty of books. First-class residents could have personal servants and private carriages.
On Dr MacBryan's death in 1943 the property was inherited by his son, Mr Gerald MacBryan. In the 1930s Gerald courted the daughter of his employer, the Rajah of Sarawak, but failed. He converted to Islam and married a Muslim woman. With the outbreak of the Second World War he returned to Sarawak, leaving the Box establishment in the hands of his staff. He died in Hong Kong in November 1946, described by a member of staff as a down and out in filthy rags trying to direct the street traffic, although he had thousands of dollars in the bank. The mad house was closed down and by 1948 it was converted into private residences..
Answers to Questions Posed in Heading
Box wasn't the only Mad House from the 1600s but the others diasppeared. Box's survival was due to the way it responded to economic circumstances, taking advantage of Poor Law rates in some periods, and seeking private residents at others. At times, it was a cash cow for the owners who became fabulously wealthy and built huge mansions for themselves.
It had other advantages. It was conveniently close to the main medieval highway between London and Bristol and onwards to Wales. Its location at the top of Doctors' Hill meant it was never a problem to residents in Box and in a private secure environment for those seeking to hide away unwanted relatives.
And the reason for the graffiti which adorn the walls of the buildings and the external boundary wall? Your guess is as good as mine but it doesn't appear to relate to Logsplatt Quarry. Many of the blocks in the external walls seem to me to have a similar script, probably carved by bored residents and later used out of sequence when the wall was rebuilt.
Sources
Use the People Index and Places Index tabs on the website to read more about these people, places and events.
Use the People Index and Places Index tabs on the website to read more about these people, places and events.