Monument record 0839000000 - Chalfont Centre

Residential colony established in 1894 by The National Society for the Employment of Epileptics on former farmland bought in 1893. The Chalfont Colony was the first residential centre in England specifically designed to provide a safe environment for epileptics to live and work. Accomodation consisted of a number of villas, set within landscaped grounds with administration block, school building, workshops, dairy, shop, recreation hall, farm buildings, recreation grounds (B1,B3).
RCHME building survey (B2,B6).
Brief historical summary of site, with descriptions, photographs and assessment of significance of buildings. See report for details (B4,B7).
NGR to centre of site.
The National Society for the Employment of Epileptics (NSEE) was launched in 1892 by a group of London philanthropists and neurologists to create a ‘colony’ for people with epilepsy where they could work. The Society bought Skippings Farm near Chalfont St Peter. The first home was a temporary iron building and water was supplied through a horse driven pump. In 1894 the first patients ('colonists') were admitted; they were all men and were charged 10 shillings a week, although financial help was provided from an annuity fund for those who couldn't afford the full amount. The original staff consisted of a lady superintendent, a bailiff, a male attendant, a nurse and a female servant. Colonists worked six days a week on the land or did domestic work in the home. Later on the men undertook other work such as carpentry, plumbing, painting and bricklaying. It was believed that the fresh air and hard work was beneficial to the patients' health and well-being. A home for women was set up some years later. These women spent the first part of each week washing hundreds of items; then from Wednesday to Saturday they did the ironing. In later years they would also help with fruit picking and haymaking in the summer. By 1900 there were seven permanent homes accommodating 90 men and over 40 women, with men and women strictly segregated. From 1909 children were admitted to the colony, after two homes and a school had been built, funded by the local authority. During the Second World War men at the colony manufactured concrete blocks, women made magnetos for aircraft and the centre became a refuge for evacuees with epilepsy. The number of patients reached a peak of 575 in 1942, this included around 100 children. Due to falling numbers of children at the centre, the school was closed in 1957 and the remaining children were transferred to Lingfield (the National Centre for Young People with Epilepsy, now renamed Young Epilepsy). From the late 1960s patients began to be admitted to Chalfont for short term care. A therapeutic work centre for residents was set up and the homes were modernised. Following the Reid Report, the National Hospital - Chalfont Special Centre was set up in 1972, this provided a hospital to give social and medical assessment and rehabilitation. Around this time the Society acquired a new name, becoming the National Society for Epilepsy. In January 2011 the organisation took on a new working name of the Epilepsy Society (B11).