100 years in the making ...

A lot can happen over 100 years …

1912 is probably best known as the year the Titanic sank (it was also an Olympic year – held in Stockholm) but for Burrswood Hospital in Groombridge it was the start of the long process in establishing the 40 bed hospital that exists today. 

The story starts with Dorothy Kerin who was born in South East London in 1889.  In 1902 her father died and soon after that the family faced increasing poverty. For Dorothy this was the beginning of long years of intractable sickness leading to tubercular meningitis and peritonitis. On February 18^th 1912 she lay dying with her family gathered around her death bed; her doctor having said Dorothy wouldn’t survive the night. Late in the evening Dorothy suddenly sat up declaring that she was well (despite spending most of the previous two weeks in a coma), insisted on getting out of bed and then asked for food which she ate ravenously before being persuaded to go back to bed. Next morning, Dorothy’s doctor, an eminent practitioner and surgeon, had no explanation. Indeed he was almost unbelieving at what he witnessed saying to a reporter, ‘had I read about it I certainly should not have believed it’. Subsequent medical tests revealed no trace of the lesions and symptoms associated with her illness. It was a fully documented, miraculous cure and, as the news of Dorothy’s healing spread, she became an overnight celebrity, with newspapers camping outside her front door, and competing for interviews. Dorothy described in her book The Living Touch that during the two weeks prior to her healing she had received a vision of the Lord and Angels, asking her “Will you go back?” She said she was charged to “heal the sick, comfort the sorrowing and give faith to the faithless”.

In the years following her healing Dorothy prayed for guidance as to how she should accomplish the task that had been given to her. The years of war were full of practical difficulties but when peacetime returned Dorothy owned six properties and had adopted nine war orphans; the realisation of visions. In 1929 she opened her first Home of Healing in a small house in Ealing. Further houses were added, until in 1946 she moved to Speldhurst in Kent. In 1948 Dorothy acquired the estate of Burrswood in nearby Groombridge, a place that would be her home for the rest of her life, and where her work still goes on today.  She oversaw a great deal of development of the site during her lifetime and, while the facilities have been updated regularly, there has also been the addition of a hydrotherapy pool and new hospital wing in recent years.  Dorothy died on 26^th January 1963.

Today Burrswood Hospital is registered with the Care Quality Commission and runs as non-surgical independent hospital offering the highest standards of clinical care.  Alongside the medical team, Burrswood has resident chaplains and regular healing services are held in the church.  Uniquely patients can benefit from medical care combined with spiritual care, as required.  Over the years many thousands of people have been cared for at Burrswood.  The hospital now runs as a private enterprise but in keeping with Dorothy’s vision it is also a charity with a bursary fund (Access to Care Fund) which supports the fees of patients who would otherwise not be able to stay at Burrswood.  Whilst Burrswood is a Christian organisation, people of any faith or none are warmly welcomed.

To celebrate the immense achievement of bringing Burrswood to where it is today, there is a centenary appeal being launched to raise £150,000 to renovate the hydrotherapy pool and £100,000 for the Access to Care Fund.  There are a number of events planned including a service at Burrswood on February 18^th as well as a Thanksgiving Service at St Martin in the Fields on May 23^rd where the preacher will be the Bishop of London.  Details of fundraising events will be on the website.  Burrswood will also be displaying of some the great many pieces of archive material detailing this amazing story.  Over her lifetime Dorothy Kerin not only achieved a great deal in setting up Burrswood Hospital but also attracted a great deal of media attention.  The cuttings make fascinating reading.

For more information see Spring 2012 Burrswood News: