Dwelling in Strangeness: Accounts of the Kingsley Hall Community, London (1965-1970), Established by R. D. Laing

Abstract

This article explores archival accounts of the experimental community, Kingsley Hall (1965-70), established by R. D. Laing, the radical Scottish psychiatrist. The paper contributes to renewed interest in Kingsley Hall, R. D. Laing's radical psychiatry and UK counterculture. Archival sources enable not only the further exploration of already known figures but also let us hear previously unheard voices. Following a discussion of archival materials, the Hall is analyzed thematically and historically as (i) an inner spaceship; (ii) an embattled middle-class countercultural plantation; (iii) a site of spiritual renewal and development; (iv) a single-building arts colony; and (v) a countercultural experiment. Finally, it is argued that with re-evaluation of 1960s and 1970s counterculture now underway on the Left, the Hall's experiment in Laingian countercultural psychiatry-as we may fittingly call it-may yet inform future radical projects (in mental health and beyond).

Did the Master’s Tools Dismantle the Master’s House? Anti-Psychiatry, Robin Farquharson, and Acid Anarchism

“…Following Adrian Chapman's polyhedral thematization of Kingsley Hall as "an inner spaceship," "an embattled middle-class countercultural plantation," "a site of spiritual renewal and development," "a single-building arts colony," and "a countercultural experiment," it can also be characterized as "an acid commune" or "a site of experiential anarchy." 11 Along with fellow psychiatrists, the South African David Cooper (1931Cooper ( -1986, the American Joseph Berke (1939-2021) and others, Laing founded the Philadelphia Association, through which the residential community was established at Kingsley Hall in 1965. Ostensibly, there were no doctor-patient relationships nor any formal hierarchy at the residence, where people lived together and where, at times, LSD flowed freely.…”