Leybourne Grange, Leybourne, Kent
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Leybourne Grange, Leybourne, Kent by rob as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
![](https://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/01/67/93/1679322_ce7e2d7c.jpg)
Image: © rob Taken: 3 Feb 2009
Leybourne Grange opened in 1936 and it once covered an extensive 270 acres and was once home to 1200 patients with various degrees of mental disability. Patients lived in a total of 27 villas which split them into male, female and children. Leybourne Grange was designed to be completely self sufficient with its own farm, industrial laundry huge boiler house with enormous water tanks, a kitchen garden and workshops. There were houses for married staff and a large nurses block too. In 1992 Leybourne Grange began to implement closure with patients gradually leaving until total closure in 1996. Demolition has already started to accommodate a total of 722 homes, comprising 702 new properties and the conversion of the listed manor house into 21 apartments. All of the homes will meet the EcoHomes Excellent standard and 176 will be available for affordable rent or shared ownership, giving more people the opportunity to become homeowners.