A man's collection of once-hidden artefacts dating to the late 1800s from an old hospital has offered a glimpse into what they were like in the past.

Bernard Crowhurst worked at Stone House Hospital from 1955 for 42 years and has been collecting items he felt needed preserving.

He said: "I have still got things that some people would throw in the bin.

"I have always been a hoarder. I just like to keep things."

Stone House Hospital in Cotton Lane, Dartford was opened in 1866 as the City of London Lunatic Asylum before it became City of London Mental Hospital in 1921.

It became part of the NHS in 1948 and changed its name to Stone House Hospital.

The facility closed in 2005, 139 years after it originally opened.

As it is a Grade II listed building it could not be demolished, so after laying empty for several years it was developed into housing by P. J. Livesey Group.

Some items in Bernard's collection include pewter and silver jugs from the Victorian era, a wooden holder for bed-pans, a one-of-a-kind book holding the surveys and plans of the hospital grounds, a letter seal and a matron's call system which had been converted to electricity from wires over the years.

The 88-year-old, who was known fondly as "Bert" at the old facility, worked as an engineer and looks back on his working years with joy.

Due to the nature of his work, Bernard would find many hidden treasures under floorboards, including some remnants of old newspapers found under the committee room.

One dated back to October 4, 1897 and had the stocks closing prices and market reports for various industries.

Another that looks as if it was specifically cut out details "Dartford through the 'Blitz'" where it notes 149 people in the borough and rural district lost their lives.

Bernard was tasked with curating items for a museum on the hospital which never materialised leaving Bernard with a mountain of documents, items and memories many of which he uncovered himself in loft spaces.

The dad-of-one said: "I do not regret keeping it. I have got stuff all over the place.

"It is beautiful; you cannot throw things away."

He even joked that his daughter, Lynn, 60, might need some help clearing his house out when the time comes.

In his collection, he has two old electrical fittings dated back to around 1898 and has even kept some old light bulbs he found.

Bernard, of Kirby Road, Stone, said: "Who in their right mind would keep an old light bulb, but I did.

"They were something to keep and not to throw away."

He also has the number plaques that indicated the 20ft twin furnace burner, of which there were three, but Bernard was only able to get his hands on the first two.

The hospital was run on steam which needed to be stoked by five people 24 hours a day.

The grandad-of-two also held onto another plaque from the hall in Stone House Hospital presented by King Edward's hospital fund for London in May 1958, an original coronation festival programme from 1937 and a programme of a concert held in 1915.

Bernard shared his story after reading about Liz Edgar, who lives only over the way in Greenhithe, found a nearly 90-year-old Barclays cheque in her loft.

Our sister publication, the Medway Messenger, was even able to track down three couples after a newspaper featuring their wedding pictures were discovered under a floorboard in Gillingham.

Have you found anything interesting in your loft? Contact KentOnline's sister publication by emailing dartford@thekmgroup.co.uk