Following the ending of contracts accommodating patients at the Essex County Council's Brentwood Mental Hospital, joint facilities were developed between East Ham and Southend-on-Sea boroughs.

[1] A site was chosen in Runwell at Runwell Hall Farm, to the north of the town of Wickford and the firm of Elcock and Sutcliffe were chosen as architects to the site, the former having previously designed the new Bethlem Royal Hospital at Monks Orchard.

[1] The hospital was bombed by the German Luftwaffe during the Second World War;[2] there was extensive damage including a number of large craters but no injuries to staff.

[3] Following the introduction of Care in the Community in the early 1980s, the hospital went into a period of decline and eventually closed in August 2010.

[5] The site has since been developed for residential use by Countryside Properties and the area is now known as St Luke's Park.