Earnley Education Centre
~ History ~
The Education Centre was a former boarding school in Earnley, Chichester. Built on the grounds of Earnley Place as a listed Grade II Queen Anne House. It later became an adult education centre and conference/training centre. Before closing in 2011 by the trustees with an axe of 41 jobs due to financial difficulties blamed on the economic market.
The centre boasted 220 accomodation facilities, 11 rooms for classes & Conferences, and a 120 seat theatre.
The centre also had a bar, 2 swimming pools and a games room.
~ The explore ~
Having heard about the location and only living 10 miles down the road me and @Smidgey88 decided to take an adventure to Earnley Education Centre. We shortly arrived to the site to find a carpark right next door to the site (Convenient) as usual there was no one around till we progressed down the path and about three cars turned up! luckily it was just dog walkers. So we began our search for entry, which turned out to be so easy that as soon as we entered the site we quickly entered the first building.
~ History ~
The Education Centre was a former boarding school in Earnley, Chichester. Built on the grounds of Earnley Place as a listed Grade II Queen Anne House. It later became an adult education centre and conference/training centre. Before closing in 2011 by the trustees with an axe of 41 jobs due to financial difficulties blamed on the economic market.
The centre boasted 220 accomodation facilities, 11 rooms for classes & Conferences, and a 120 seat theatre.
The centre also had a bar, 2 swimming pools and a games room.
~ The explore ~
Having heard about the location and only living 10 miles down the road me and @Smidgey88 decided to take an adventure to Earnley Education Centre. We shortly arrived to the site to find a carpark right next door to the site (Convenient) as usual there was no one around till we progressed down the path and about three cars turned up! luckily it was just dog walkers. So we began our search for entry, which turned out to be so easy that as soon as we entered the site we quickly entered the first building.
We entered the art classroom and found much furniture still visible. We were happy to see hardly any damage had been done at this point which was reassuring (Who doesn't like an untouched explore)
The art room had a little side room with chairs and storage. However it looks like this may have been used for group sessions.
We then left the art room and progressed down the first set of long leading corridoors. There were many rooms leading off to accomodation, with upstairs also leading to more rooms!
We then reached the centre canteen area. We were amazed to find power was still active here. With the serving counters still turned on and operating as if the next round of food was ready to come out of the kitchen!
With many appliances and crockery still visible and untouched it really felt like this place just upped and left without shutting down.
We then entered the kitchen, which was an absoloute mess! Looked like Gordon Ramsey had gone on one of his rampages. But was still great to see the operation they would have once had here.
We then made our way down the long corridoors again which took us to the reception/main enterance which also featured a shop too! They seemed to dump all the chairs here.
Behind reception you had the alarm system which was making a concerning beep noise, and also housed the keys to all the rooms in the centre.
We then headed past a few empty classrooms and also some boring conference rooms. However we were then treated to this amazing indoor swimming pool. With water still inside (a bit mouldy) and inflatables too.
We then progressed to the theatre room which for me made this explore very special. It was surreal to see a fully functioning reel ready to project a movie or presentation! not something you see in most explores. Again all equipment was still there just upped and left.
With spare equipment and controls to lights & screens which could all be accessed from this room. Had a good tinker playing around in here.
Inside the theatre room where people would have gathered to watch a movie or slideshow. This place also loved a game of scrabble with peices from the game literally in every room of the centre.
Our final stop was the gatehouse, off limits for public but housing another swimming pool and luxury sauna (Unfortunely didn't get a photo of the sauna) with the rest of the gatehouse being average and somewhat boring!
This explore went on for much longer than I expected due to the size of this place. We must have looked in every room but it was worth the time we spent here. It was our favourite to date!
I hope you enjoyed reading my adventure and I look forward to posting more in the future. Happy Exploring!
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