Documenting Cane Hill's spooky tales
5/11/06

A documentary about the now derelict Cane Hill mental hospital has
uncovered a number of ghostly goings on.

Coulsdon's infamous Cane Hill Hospital is set to feature in a television
documentary.
Hippodrome Films wants to create a permanent visual record of the
Victorian asylum before the site disappears forever when it is
redeveloped for housing.

The production team is looking for people connected with the hospital to
be interviewed for its documentary, Cane Hill: From the Inside.
Hippodrome will use old photographs, documents, maps and hospital
artefacts as well as interviews with former members of staff, residents
and historians. It will also include extensive footage of the hospital
as it is now.
Project director Keith Boutcher also hopes to involve actor Sir Michael
Caine and rock star David Bowie.

He said: "Both of them had half-brothers who were patients in Cane Hill.
It's well-documented that David Bowie's half-brother killed himself by
lying down on the tracks at Coulsdon South railway station in the
1980s."
Charlie Chaplain's mother Hannah Chaplain was also a patient at Cane
Hill and the actor wrote about his visits to the asylum.
During one visit in 1912 when the film star had more money Chaplain
moved his mother into private care.

Cane Hill opened in 1883 as a mental asylum and the main part of the
site closed in 1992, coinciding with the emergence of the care in the
community mental health programme.
The disused site has become derelict over the years and has been the
target of arsonists and vandals. It has also proved a popular
destination with ghost-hunters as well as urban explorers extreme sports
enthusiasts who explore off-limits locations.

"There are ghost stories," Keith added. "We heard a strange one from the
security team. One night one of them was patrolling the grounds and the
guard dog, which was quite vicious, was let off the lead but ran off in
the opposite direction whimpering.
"It was then the figure of a man was seen wandering around the trees.
"When we visited the spot, we found the grave of the hospital's first
superintendent Sir James Moody, virtually hidden by undergrowth.

"We had a spooky experience at the site a couple of months ago. My wife
thought she saw a figure cross the corridor ahead of us while we checked
out filming locations.
"Cane Hill is something of a Mecca for urban explorers too, although
anyone who goes up there is trespassing as it's private property."
Another aim of the documentary is to deter trespassers. The site has
become unsafe, as there is structural damage and asbestos.

The site is to be turned into housing by English Partnership, which is
waiting for the land to be handed over by the NHS.

Hippodrome wants to hear from anyone connected with the hospital. Call
Hippodrome on 07970 845523 or email hipposcopefilms@aol.com.

12:28pm Thursday 11th May 2006
By Kerry McQueeney