Bishop's Court in Torquay was once one of the premier places to stay. Panoramic views over Torbay, exclusive rooms and listed parts of the building added up to a prime location in the whole of Devon.
In 2010, falling business lead to parts of the hotel being converted into apartments, leading to the change of description as now a 'gated spa resort'. In 2015, a war between neighbouring apartments lead to one neighbour putting a suitcase on his hob and setting alight to it, lighting up his and most of the surrounding apartments with it.
This lead to the closing of Bishops Court. The fire dept report slated the management as they failed to put in place the correct fire controls.
Present day Bishops Court is a curious place. There was open door access to the part where the fire happened, whereas the 'listed' part is under heavy fencing, cctv and motion detection. Even with this, the accessable part is well worth exploring, with an amazing basement bowling alley, pool and arcade. This part sadly will be demolished when planning permission is granted.
We explored for a few hours, until the owners came with police. One of the policemen knew about urbex for once, so knew we weren't there for trouble as soon as he saw our cameras. He even said he'd be interested in seeing the pictures.
Pictures below, heavy colours as ever with me o_O
In 2010, falling business lead to parts of the hotel being converted into apartments, leading to the change of description as now a 'gated spa resort'. In 2015, a war between neighbouring apartments lead to one neighbour putting a suitcase on his hob and setting alight to it, lighting up his and most of the surrounding apartments with it.
This lead to the closing of Bishops Court. The fire dept report slated the management as they failed to put in place the correct fire controls.
Present day Bishops Court is a curious place. There was open door access to the part where the fire happened, whereas the 'listed' part is under heavy fencing, cctv and motion detection. Even with this, the accessable part is well worth exploring, with an amazing basement bowling alley, pool and arcade. This part sadly will be demolished when planning permission is granted.
We explored for a few hours, until the owners came with police. One of the policemen knew about urbex for once, so knew we weren't there for trouble as soon as he saw our cameras. He even said he'd be interested in seeing the pictures.
Pictures below, heavy colours as ever with me o_O