History
In 1772, Robert Hay Drummond, the Archbishop of York, decided along with "twenty-four Yorkshire gentlemen" to establish an asylum, called the 'County Lunatic Asylum, York'. A committee was established, and the architect John Carr was co-opted with a pledge of 25 guineas. Carr's patron, the Marquis of Rockingham, pledged 100 guineas, and a total of £2500 was subscribed. By July 1773, £5000 had been promised, and Carr's scheme to accommodate 54 patients was approved on 25 August. The building was completed in 1777. The name of the building was later changed to Bootham Park Hospital. On 25 April 2014, it was announced that Bootham Park Hospital was to be closed, and a new hospital built in York. In late September 2015 the hospital was declared unfit by the Care Quality Commission, and ordered to close by the end of the month.
The Explore
Visited with @hamtagger .We had found out about this place a few weeks ago and after doing a bit of research and literally waiting for a free weekend we decided to hit it. HT came across it in the news and when I checked it on the Asylum list it wasn't on there. We noticed that it had been amended a few days later. After a little bit of research we found out that this place really did have some history to it. This wasn't a pre arranged permission visit.
Nice early start for the both of us up to York. we parked up, still signs of life at the back end of the hospital. It was the main building we were interested in. We were walking around the perimeter checking it, we got level with the front door and literally as we were reading a sign on the front door which read "If you want in, ring 0***********" and the door opened. Me and HT just kind of stood there. This was us stood face to face with the security guy who was letting someone out of the building. She toddled off and he just kind of stood there looking so we made small talk about if it was going to reopen and why it had shut down. There was an awkward pause before he asked if we wanted to come in. Well that is why we were there, a bit too easy but this was one we were not going to pass up on. We got in and as soon as walking in the front door the Grandeur hit me. Huge pillars, beautifully crafted wooden doorframes and the most beautiful floor I had ever seen! I quickly asked if I could take some pictures. He asked what i would be doing with them so I told him they would be for our records. He said he had only worked there a week and after he invited us in I didn't want the guy to lose his job. He was a bit hesitant when we were asking about certain areas of the place. He took us to a 'padded cell' but it wasn't a padded cell like you would think. The bed was padded and that was it.
You will see just how beautiful this place is, every corner we turned there was beauty staring right at us. The skylight was amazing, the stained glass was probably the best I have ever seen. One of the best parts for me was probably the sign in the boardroom which was erected when the building was built and is clearly marked with the words "With the reception & relief of the INSANE" Not something you come across everyday. There was nothing here which wasn't nice. I would have liked a bit more decay but there was a little. I could see no major reason for the hospital to be shut down especially with what I had read in the news.
The boardroom had a lot of history inside it and so did the chapel. Really nice to see all of this. I believe that the boards that lined the board room has the figures of how much staff were paid back in the day but I am sure someone can confirm this?
There is way more to this site than what is pictured here, lots more in the grounds. We really didn't want to push our luck with checking out the rest of the site.
When our time was up we spoke to the security guy who told us despite inspectors coming back it was not to be reopened. It was closed for good. We gave him some fags and thanked him then grabbed some externals. I am sure you will agree that this is just as beautiful as I think it is. Well worth going. Probably the grandest building I have ever been in!
On with the pics, sorry it is a bit picture heavy!
1 - The exterior
2
3
4
5
6 - The Hall
7
8 - Vending machine was turned off but still fully stocked
9
10
11
12
[
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27 - Sorry about the blur
In 1772, Robert Hay Drummond, the Archbishop of York, decided along with "twenty-four Yorkshire gentlemen" to establish an asylum, called the 'County Lunatic Asylum, York'. A committee was established, and the architect John Carr was co-opted with a pledge of 25 guineas. Carr's patron, the Marquis of Rockingham, pledged 100 guineas, and a total of £2500 was subscribed. By July 1773, £5000 had been promised, and Carr's scheme to accommodate 54 patients was approved on 25 August. The building was completed in 1777. The name of the building was later changed to Bootham Park Hospital. On 25 April 2014, it was announced that Bootham Park Hospital was to be closed, and a new hospital built in York. In late September 2015 the hospital was declared unfit by the Care Quality Commission, and ordered to close by the end of the month.
The Explore
Visited with @hamtagger .We had found out about this place a few weeks ago and after doing a bit of research and literally waiting for a free weekend we decided to hit it. HT came across it in the news and when I checked it on the Asylum list it wasn't on there. We noticed that it had been amended a few days later. After a little bit of research we found out that this place really did have some history to it. This wasn't a pre arranged permission visit.
Nice early start for the both of us up to York. we parked up, still signs of life at the back end of the hospital. It was the main building we were interested in. We were walking around the perimeter checking it, we got level with the front door and literally as we were reading a sign on the front door which read "If you want in, ring 0***********" and the door opened. Me and HT just kind of stood there. This was us stood face to face with the security guy who was letting someone out of the building. She toddled off and he just kind of stood there looking so we made small talk about if it was going to reopen and why it had shut down. There was an awkward pause before he asked if we wanted to come in. Well that is why we were there, a bit too easy but this was one we were not going to pass up on. We got in and as soon as walking in the front door the Grandeur hit me. Huge pillars, beautifully crafted wooden doorframes and the most beautiful floor I had ever seen! I quickly asked if I could take some pictures. He asked what i would be doing with them so I told him they would be for our records. He said he had only worked there a week and after he invited us in I didn't want the guy to lose his job. He was a bit hesitant when we were asking about certain areas of the place. He took us to a 'padded cell' but it wasn't a padded cell like you would think. The bed was padded and that was it.
You will see just how beautiful this place is, every corner we turned there was beauty staring right at us. The skylight was amazing, the stained glass was probably the best I have ever seen. One of the best parts for me was probably the sign in the boardroom which was erected when the building was built and is clearly marked with the words "With the reception & relief of the INSANE" Not something you come across everyday. There was nothing here which wasn't nice. I would have liked a bit more decay but there was a little. I could see no major reason for the hospital to be shut down especially with what I had read in the news.
The boardroom had a lot of history inside it and so did the chapel. Really nice to see all of this. I believe that the boards that lined the board room has the figures of how much staff were paid back in the day but I am sure someone can confirm this?
There is way more to this site than what is pictured here, lots more in the grounds. We really didn't want to push our luck with checking out the rest of the site.
When our time was up we spoke to the security guy who told us despite inspectors coming back it was not to be reopened. It was closed for good. We gave him some fags and thanked him then grabbed some externals. I am sure you will agree that this is just as beautiful as I think it is. Well worth going. Probably the grandest building I have ever been in!
On with the pics, sorry it is a bit picture heavy!
1 - The exterior
2
3
4
5
6 - The Hall
7
8 - Vending machine was turned off but still fully stocked
9
10
11
12
[
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27 - Sorry about the blur
It was very impressive, there was literally 1 piece of plaster missing from what we could see. 
