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 It was only after the Government made it obligatory in 1854 that local authorities should provide an asylum for 'pauper lunatics' that serious discussions led to the agreement to provide a single institution for the whole of Sussex. It was laid down by the Commissioner for Lunacy that an acre to each four inmates was required and thus a site of 120 acres was purchased for £5,750.
The design submitted by the architect H E Kendall, was accepted in 1856 and the original asylum (the buildings flanked by the two bell towers) was completed and opened on St James' Day, 25th July 1859. It included accommodation for 420 inmates plus offices, superintendent's apartments, chapel, lodge, stable, gas house, engine and boiler room, boundary walls, gas works, baths, showers, brewhouse and washrooms. An artesian well 217 feet deep supplied water and still does today.
A sum of £80,000 had been set aside for the proect and, given that the building and engineering work cost £46,531 with furnishings and fittings over and above that, the end result seems most economic.
When first opened, St Francis Hospital was smaller than the one we regard today as 'the original Victorian building' : the side wings were not erected until three years later, in 1862.
Out of 83 applicants, Dr Charles Lockhart Robertson from London was appointed as medical superintendent at a salary of £450 per annum.
The original inmates were gathered from local asylums and included 82 from Bethnal Green Asylum.
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