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Whittingham Asylum

Set in woody grounds in Lancashire, the now-decaying Whittingham
Asylum was at one stage the largest in Britain. Built in 1869 from
the designs of Henry Littler, by 1939 its main building and annexes
housed 3533 patients and 548 staff. With its own farms, telephone
exchange, post office, reservoirs, gas works, orchestra, brass band,
butchers and brewery – plus railway station – Whittingham was the
epitome of a self-contained asylum. It also pioneered the use of
EEG, the recording of the brain’s electrical activity.
Surreal decay and growth: Hallway and day room in
Whittingham Asylum


The military took over the asylum during WWI and II, before large
institutions like Whittingham fell out of favour with the Mental
Health Act of 1960. Allegations of abuse against patients in
Whittingham also led to a public inquiry and staff were dismissed.
Patients were given new therapies and relocated during the ’70s and
’80s, and the hospital was at last closed in 1995. Since then, this
massive site has been derelict and in a bad state of disrepair, one
section has been flattened, and plans are underway for
redevelopment.
Hellingly Asylum

If abandoned asylums are seen as creepy places then names like
Hellingly Asylum don’t help. On top of a hill overlooking the East
Sussex countryside lie the decrepit remains of this once grand
psychiatric hospital – soon to be no more. Built by GT Hine, one of
the esteemed asylum architects of his time, Hellingly opened its
doors in 1903, and was a prime example of the ‘splendid isolation’
philosophy evident in the design of institutional buildings of the
era. Self-sufficient for years, it even had its own tram and
railway.
Rotting Carcass: Hellingly Asylum fire damage and
corridors


Until quite recently Hellingly retained its sense of
isolation but sadly is currently being stripped out by contractors,
ready to be razed to the ground. Most of Hellingly’s buildings were
closed in 1994, after which it grew increasingly run-down and
suffered attacks by vandals, not least arson. Urban explorers were
drawn here due to its size, extensive grounds, great dilapidation,
and stand-out features – including its vast laundry, patients’ shop,
sewing rooms, water tower, large boiler house and inspiring
ballroom.
Denbigh Asylum

Denbigh Asylum in North Wales offers a magnificent, even daunting
exterior to the outside world, but inside is rotting away. Built
between 1846 and 1848 from plans drawn up by Thomas Fulljames, this
pioneering example of early Victorian asylum architecture was
constructed because of the appalling conditions faced by Welsh
people with mental health problems. Originally Denbigh only housed
200 patients, but to relieve overcrowding it was later extended,
reaching its peak capacity of 1,500 in 1956.
Dark and decaying: Denbigh Asylum corridor and main hall

Denbigh was finally closed in 1995, and its limestone Grade II
listed building – surrounded by acres of wooded, landscaped grounds
originally donated by a local landowner – was left to ruin.
Destructive human action has played its part in Denbigh’s demise,
with machinery stripped and rooms smashed to pieces. Meanwhile,
natural decay has also set in, such that sections of the floor have
rotted through, making navigation difficult if not dangerous.
Ironically, the most intact part of Denbigh is its morgue.
St Mary’s Asylum

Battered but not yet broken, St Mary’s Asylum in Northumberland lies
in an isolated location yet with several access routes to its
chapel, superintendent’s residence and main entrance. Its compact
arrow plan was the work of GT Hine, and is not unlike that the same
architect designed for Hellingly – also in similarly red-brick in
style. Opened in 1914, St Mary’s was soon commandeered during WWI;
then, after the modification of the isolation hospital to form a
sanatorium for TB patients, it was again used through WWII.
Derelict but not forgotten: Old hall and dilapidated
corridor in St Mary’s Asylum


Despite various proposals for redeveloping St Mary’s, today this
relic from a bygone era of mental health treatment is disused apart
from a few occupied staff residences. The Grade II listed buildings
have remained in remarkably good condition, probably because of
their remote location, though the boiler house chimney has collapsed
due to structural failure and its emergency medical huts were
demolished prior to the hospital’s closure in 1995. Most of the
equipment has now been taken from inside; most but not all.
West Park Asylum
West Park Asylum in Surrey is a sprawling complex of red-brick
buildings that radiate out from idiotically the burnt-out shell of
its central hall. Designed by William C. Clifford-Smith, and opened
in the 1923 after use during WWII, it was the last in a long legacy
of psychiatric hospitals in the London area. West Park was built to
the American ‘colony’ plan, with wards clustered together in the
same building, creating isolated communities, and each building
linked to the others via a web-like maze of corridors.
Decaying interior: West Park Asylum nursery and day room

West Park housed up to 2000 patients of mixed class and so needed to
be large, with enormous kitchens and extensive boiler houses and
plant rooms. Yet in the mid ’90s the hospital fell into neglect and
by 2003 was all but closed. A few outer wards remain in use, but
West Park is now derelict, its impressive buildings slowly going to
ruin. That said, it does draw urban explorers, who are able to see
patients’ belongings still strewn around, hospital items like beds
and equipment, and even a padded cell.
High Royds Asylum
With its 130-ft tall clock tower dominating the surrounding West
Yorkshire landscape, High Royds Asylum is perhaps the most grandiose
presented here – a stunning piece of architecture replete with
Italian mosaics and elegant tile work. With its intricate details
and dramatic views, this 300-acre Grade II listed site has been
compared to a palace rather than a psychiatric institution. Even so,
it has deteriorated a great deal since its closure in 2003, and is
currently being redeveloped for housing.
Ghosts of High Royds Asylum: Inside the hallways and
wards

Opened in 1888 as the West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum, High
Royds was designed by J. Vickers-Edwards and is arguably the finest
example of a broad arrow layout. Self-contained like Hellingly and
West Park, High Royds formerly boasted a library, surgery, butchers,
dairy, tailor, sweetshop, bakers and cobblers – as well as its own
railway system – and at one stage could house up to 1,300 patients.
Today the energy of High Royds’ past residents is said to still be
present despite its demise.
Severalls Asylum

Ranging over 300-acres, but now-fenced off and hazardous, time was
when Severalls Asylum housed some 2000 patients. Designed by Frank
Whitmore and opened in 1913, it was based on the ‘echelon plan’,
with buildings linked to one another by a network of interconnecting
corridors, allowing staff to move around without having to brave the
weather. Most of the structures were built in an unembellished,
typically Edwardian style, and those still standing have changed
little since the hospital’s closure in 1997.
Echelon bowels: Interconnected corridors riddling
Severalls Asylum

Although doubtless not alone, Severalls was an asylum where
psychiatrists were free to experiment on patients using treatments
now considered inhumane – like electro-convulsive therapy and
frontal lobotomy – before reforms were introduced in the ’60s.
Today, its buildings have suffered vandalism and fire attacks,
leading to the demolition of the charred main hall in 2007, yet
people are still attracted by the remnants of Severalls’ past –
including leftover medical equipment and a mortuary containing body
refrigerators.
Deva Asylum

In the grounds of the still-in-use Countess of Chester Hospital is
an abandoned gem in Deva Asylum. Opened in 1829, it was originally
designed by William Cole Jr. to house up to 500 patients, but over
the years was expanded with new annexes until it could finally hold
over 1,500. The asylum eventually closed in 2005 and since then has
lain deserted and exposed to the forces of nature. Yet despite this,
some sections look as though they are still in use – if that is you
ignore the discarded patient logs.
Do not enter: Hazard room and hallway inside Deva Asylum


Though completely derelict, Deva is beautifully preserved. Certain
parts are even said to have power and running water, while its
cramped rooms, labs and pharmacy are in good condition. Other
notable features include the legendary hazard room painted as an art
piece a few years back, high security seclusion cells, and an intact
dentist’s chair tucked away deep inside the bowels of the service
tunnels. Decay is naturally present in the old tiled corridors and
stone spiral steps, but Deva also has an untouched quality.
St John’s Asylum

An abandoned asylum with an imposing water tower, St John’s in
Lincolnshire also features a freshly restored facade – though the
interior is another story. Opened in 1852 based on designs by John
R. Hamilton, the hospital was originally built to house 250 inmates,
but was enlarged at later dates. The early inmates were sometimes
referred to as ‘visitors’, but as well as cultivating the grounds to
provide vegetables and disposing of sewage, they were doubtless also
subjected to bodily restraints that belied such a name.
The darkness within: Corridor and skeletal staircase in
St John’s Asylum


St John’s was shut down in 1989 and bought by developers who have
converted half of the site into houses, but the main asylum
buildings are Grade II listed and so cannot be demolished. The
interior, however, is little more than a shell. Practically every
room is stripped bare, although the Y-shaped stairwell remains of
interest; so too the extremely cramped cells lining the long, barren
corridors. The grounds of St John’s formerly had their own cemetery
together with chapel and mortuary, now no more.
Cane Hill Asylum

With the exception of its huge chapel and water tower, Cane Hill
Asylum in Croydon, Greater London now lies totally flattened.
However, there was a time when its boiler houses, mortuary and
tunnels – all set in acres of lush woodland – were legendary to
those fascinated by abandoned places in the UK. Arson attacks
coupled with structural damage from the elements took a heavy toll,
and demolition commenced in July 2001 – a sorry decline for a
hospital opened in 1883 which at its peak housed up to 2,000
patients.
Gnawing disrepair: On the wards and visiting the dentist
in Cane Hill Asylum


The main buildings of Cane Hill were designed by Charles Henry
Howell and the hospital given a Latin motto that translates: ‘I
bring relief to troubled minds’. Whether it did or not, in its day
Cane Hill was held as an example for the treatment of the mentally
ill. This imposing Victorian asylum remained largely untouched until
the ’60s when Health Minister Enoch Powell called for the closure of
the asylums. By 1991, it had closed all but its secure units and was
heavily underused by the time it was shut down in 2008.
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