Medical dates:

Medical character:

The Turret was established in the 1930s by the LCC as additional hostel accommodation for mentally handicapped young women who were capable being trained for work, but still needed a degree of supervision.  

In 1948 it joined the NHS, becoming affiliated with the Fountain Hospital, under the Fountain Group Hospital Management Committee.

By the end of the 1960s the 20 residents were deemed to be capable of complete rehabilitation.  They were provided with possessions and a locker to keep them in, clothes of their own and money to buy them with, and stimulating work with adequate financial rewards.  Some were employed on contract work at the Industrial Unit at the South Side Home.  Workers had a day off each week when they could go out on their own or with a fellow resident (but no nurse or escort) and exercise initiative, broadening their experiences by taking buses, visiting the shops and going to the cinema.

In 1969 the weekly cost per resident at the hostel was £8.32, and £11.45 in 1970.  By 1971 it had risen to £15.62.

During the NHS reorganisation in 1974 The Turret came under the control of the St Helier and Queen Mary's Hospital District, part of the Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth Area Health Authority.  As it was outside the geographical area covered by the District, it was managed on an extra-territorial basis.

It closed in 1985.


Present status (September 2009)

The building has been demolished.  In 2001 The Turrets opened as a shared house for seven men and women aged between 18 and 65 with mental health issues.  Housing support is provided by Step Forward and intensive support with a 24-hour on-call system by the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLAM).