History;
In 1868 John Langdon Down set up his own private home for the "Mentally Subnormal" at Normansfield in Kingston to supply a need for residential training and care for the disabled of the upper classes. Normansfield was a place where people with learning disabilities could be cared for and educated at a time when most of them would have been condemned to life in an asylum.
Children of bankers, doctors and clergymen rubbed shoulders with the children of senior army officers and heirs to titles and estates. Children from these classes were often hidden away in the servants’ quarters and given no chance of a normal life.
Langdon Down identified a specific group of patients whose oriental characteristics he described as Mongolian in character. Nobody had identified this special group and over the next 20 years the designation "Mongolian Idiot" or ‘Imbecile of the Mongoloid type’ came into use.
In 1961 at the request of the People's Republic of Mongolia, the World Health Organisation adopted the recommendation and in 1965 Down's syndrome was then to become a universally accepted descriptive term.
Langdon Down died on October 7th 1896. When Mary Langdon Down died in 1901 their ashes were placed together on the stage of the adjoining theatre for their final funeral service.
The theatre, which they built, is today a listed building and it stands as a permanent memorial to their work.
The auditorium and theatre has recently been restored and can be seen by CLICKING ME
Normansfield was closed in 1997 and this once ornate and beautiful building has lain derelict, unloved and decaying ever since.
In 1868 John Langdon Down set up his own private home for the "Mentally Subnormal" at Normansfield in Kingston to supply a need for residential training and care for the disabled of the upper classes. Normansfield was a place where people with learning disabilities could be cared for and educated at a time when most of them would have been condemned to life in an asylum.
Children of bankers, doctors and clergymen rubbed shoulders with the children of senior army officers and heirs to titles and estates. Children from these classes were often hidden away in the servants’ quarters and given no chance of a normal life.
Langdon Down identified a specific group of patients whose oriental characteristics he described as Mongolian in character. Nobody had identified this special group and over the next 20 years the designation "Mongolian Idiot" or ‘Imbecile of the Mongoloid type’ came into use.
In 1961 at the request of the People's Republic of Mongolia, the World Health Organisation adopted the recommendation and in 1965 Down's syndrome was then to become a universally accepted descriptive term.
Langdon Down died on October 7th 1896. When Mary Langdon Down died in 1901 their ashes were placed together on the stage of the adjoining theatre for their final funeral service.
The theatre, which they built, is today a listed building and it stands as a permanent memorial to their work.
The auditorium and theatre has recently been restored and can be seen by CLICKING ME
Normansfield was closed in 1997 and this once ornate and beautiful building has lain derelict, unloved and decaying ever since.
1.
2. Dr. John Langdon Down of Normansfield
3.
4. Basement stairs.
5.
6. If visiting, I recommend using this concrete staircase.
7.
8.
9. The service was appalling.
10. Kitchen
11. Beside the clock tower. The gap in the railings shows the escape route the bell took.
12. New meets old, this was supporting the attic.
13. Attic.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19. What's that secret your keeping?
20. Clock tower (No sign of the bell)
21. The three clock faces.
22. Clock mechanism
23. Looking up into the tower.
2. Dr. John Langdon Down of Normansfield
3.
4. Basement stairs.
5.
6. If visiting, I recommend using this concrete staircase.
7.
8.
9. The service was appalling.
10. Kitchen
11. Beside the clock tower. The gap in the railings shows the escape route the bell took.
12. New meets old, this was supporting the attic.
13. Attic.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19. What's that secret your keeping?
20. Clock tower (No sign of the bell
)
21. The three clock faces.
22. Clock mechanism
23. Looking up into the tower.
