Report - St. Piers / Lingfield Epileptic Colony - May 2024

[KPUrban_]

That fire alarm though 🤣

Didn't help I was stood underneath it and absolutely shat myself.

 

[ExplorinWithAustin&Thomas]

Great set of Photos! It has definitely become a place for kids to come and smash the place up, Me and Thomas chased off a couple of kids who were smashing the windows near the padded room.

 

[Wastelandr]

Great set of Photos! It has definitely become a place for kids to come and smash the place up, Me and Thomas chased off a couple of kids who were smashing the windows near the padded room.

Cheers Austin, ah must be regular behaviour over there then!

 

[ExplorinWithAustin&Thomas]

Cheers Austin, ah must be regular behaviour over there then!

Yes, it was a group of kids no older than 11, Thomas was even more angry than I was he lecturing them on how we should be preserving the places, but it was wasted on them 🙄

Pleased you had a good look at the place including the active part, looked pretty interesting in there 😊

 

[Wastelandr]

Yes, it was a group of kids no older than 11, Thomas was even more angry than I was he lecturing them on how we should be preserving the places, but it was wasted on them 🙄

Pleased you had a good look at the place including the active part, looked pretty interesting in there 😊

Haha too bloody right, good on him!

 

[Speed]

Definitely a similar sort of arrangement, although this was a bit lacking in original features and architectural interest. Would've liked to have seen Harperbury, especially in its earlier days.

I don't really remember Harperbury fondly. Probably one of those places that was over hyped based on one feature (padded 'rooms') and distracted from the experience of the rest.. Looks good in old photos but at the time everywhere looked like that!

 

[Wastelandr]

I don't really remember Harperbury fondly. Probably one of those places that was over hyped based on one feature (padded 'rooms') and distracted from the experience of the rest.. Looks good in old photos but at the time everywhere looked like that!

Haha probably right. The hall looked really nice from what I've seen. Looks like the place got very soggy by the end.

 

[Rachel1986]

Hi... Stumbled across this earlier when looking for history on the place. I worked here (NCYPE national centre for young people with epilepsy) for about a year 15/16 years back as a residential support worker (living onsite working in shifts to support the home rather than school needs of the kids in our house) and it was creepy as hell even back then. I was curious to know if you saw the bedrooms in what would have been the first block on the left as you come into the site. Some of the photos of the downstairs looked familiar, the room you said about being admin that had the radiator cover in to the left of the asylum esq door... That used to have a pool table in and was in a state even back then. The room to the right of that door was a large sitting room. Used to walk down that glass corridor to get to my bedroom which was originally downstairs opposite some bathrooms. I later moved upstairs and wished I hadn't, as either I started hallucinating or seeing things. There was talk of the place being an old asylum where they would do lobotomies etc on patients and I recall the staff quarters supposedly used to be where the patients lived. It certainly felt set up like that. There was a computer/training room across the site almost opposite that staff quarters building that had the most horrible vibe I've ever felt in any building in my life. There was so much talk of the whole place being haunted. While I was there, three children died from epilepsy and related causes. Working on shift even in the new wooden clad buildings was unnerving. Constantly listening out for students on the sound system to see if they were breathing or having seizures etc. Shifts were very long and all the staff were pretty young and tended to only stay a year or so prior to university or directly after. It was gruelling, the children seemed to have a knack of one going down with a seizure and then it'd trigger others in the room until you were left to tend to multiple children having seizures. The building that had a wall of windows in It and that weird overhang shelter thing, that was like a drama studio and I sat through various music sessions in there with particularly disabled children. And the photo of the building that you said has the most hospital esq vibe, I'm sure they were used back then as admin rooms as I recall having my interview in one of those glass paneled rooms. It was very nerve wracking working here. I know now that many of the teens I supported back then have sadly now passed away. It was the most harrowing place I've ever worked. Thanks for getting in for a look. I often wonder about the place.

ps the padded sinks would have been due to kids having drop seizures to prevent them smashing thier teeth/faces in on the way down. Not a clue about the padded cells other than perhaps during a meltdown for safe de-escalation but I'd hope they didn't still exist now!!! A lot of the kids would have special helmets for drop seizures and also a lot, in the more specialist houses, would spend their time sadly standing facing a wall repeatedly hitting their heads on them. A grim but I suppose necessary place to exist as a lot just were unable to be cared for at home.

Rachel

 

[mockney reject]

Great report dude, this was a fun day out despite the rain lol

@Rachel1986 the padding on the sinks makes sense now, thank you

 

[Wastelandr]

Hi... Stumbled across this earlier when looking for history on the place. I worked here (NCYPE national centre for young people with epilepsy) for about a year 15/16 years back as a residential support worker (living onsite working in shifts to support the home rather than school needs of the kids in our house) and it was creepy as hell even back then. I was curious to know if you saw the bedrooms in what would have been the first block on the left as you come into the site. Some of the photos of the downstairs looked familiar, the room you said about being admin that had the radiator cover in to the left of the asylum esq door... That used to have a pool table in and was in a state even back then. The room to the right of that door was a large sitting room. Used to walk down that glass corridor to get to my bedroom which was originally downstairs opposite some bathrooms. I later moved upstairs and wished I hadn't, as either I started hallucinating or seeing things. There was talk of the place being an old asylum where they would do lobotomies etc on patients and I recall the staff quarters supposedly used to be where the patients lived. It certainly felt set up like that. There was a computer/training room across the site almost opposite that staff quarters building that had the most horrible vibe I've ever felt in any building in my life. There was so much talk of the whole place being haunted. While I was there, three children died from epilepsy and related causes. Working on shift even in the new wooden clad buildings was unnerving. Constantly listening out for students on the sound system to see if they were breathing or having seizures etc. Shifts were very long and all the staff were pretty young and tended to only stay a year or so prior to university or directly after. It was gruelling, the children seemed to have a knack of one going down with a seizure and then it'd trigger others in the room until you were left to tend to multiple children having seizures. The building that had a wall of windows in It and that weird overhang shelter thing, that was like a drama studio and I sat through various music sessions in there with particularly disabled children. And the photo of the building that you said has the most hospital esq vibe, I'm sure they were used back then as admin rooms as I recall having my interview in one of those glass paneled rooms. It was very nerve wracking working here. I know now that many of the teens I supported back then have sadly now passed away. It was the most harrowing place I've ever worked. Thanks for getting in for a look. I often wonder about the place.

ps the padded sinks would have been due to kids having drop seizures to prevent them smashing thier teeth/faces in on the way down. Not a clue about the padded cells other than perhaps during a meltdown for safe de-escalation but I'd hope they didn't still exist now!!! A lot of the kids would have special helmets for drop seizures and also a lot, in the more specialist houses, would spend their time sadly standing facing a wall repeatedly hitting their heads on them. A grim but I suppose necessary place to exist as a lot just were unable to be cared for at home.

Rachel

Really interesting to hear these memories, brings it to life and awful lot more so thanks for sharing. Wasn't sure what kind of institution this was like but just shows it followed a similar reputation to the asylums even if it was quite different.

Great report dude, this was a fun day out despite the rain lol

@Rachel1986 the padding on the sinks makes sense now, thank you

Cheers, glad I posted it in the end! Was nice to have a lift down too

 

[Maybematt]

We struggled to find where the padded cell might be. After scouring what might have been the original admin building or a large accommodation or nurses block at the west end of the site, we decided to next explore some post-war classroom-type buildings. We didn’t expect these to contain the cell given their more modern construction. These modern buildings were in a very poor state, and whilst wandering them we suddenly came across the cell. Totally not what we expected, there it was in the middle of maybe the shittest building on site. ‘When you order a padded cell from Wish’ we joked. You know it’s not quite the real deal when half the wall is a glass window. The potential ‘Pocock’ panel was actually just a questionably-shaped slit torn in one of the panels. Still, it was nice to see a potential 1950s-era padded cell and the door was quite cool, but it wasn’t as special as we’d hoped. We found an even more modern looking cell too with brightly coloured padding. We concluded they were probably more ‘time-out’ rooms than full-blown seclusion cells.

Padded cell no.1 - a sign that things might be awry

Padded cell no.2 which we'd been looking for. The shot we'd seen online didn't show the window inside, so we were expecting something better.

When you order a padded cell from Temu

This context shot shows the cell's fairly underwhelming surroundings

We did find a padded sink though!

And maybe the first urbex padded toilet - supposedly for banging your head against during those particularly nasty ones

Inside an older outbuilding of the main complex

According to some graffiti on the door, this room contains asbestos and we'd be dead in approx. 1-2 years. Have a cracking 2026 guys.

A wild KP

A more modern demountable

We next moved on the several blocks on the southern side of the site. These appeared to be more conventional accommodation blocks, with the two either side seemed to date to the 1920s-ish, and the central one being intentionally later with its mansard roof. The easternmost of these blocks was the nicest, being the most original inside with some nice decay, whilst still being quite heavily converted. The others were less interesting and fairly modern. At one point after some button-poking, the building’s alarm went off. It was pretty loud, and we saw a guy walking down the road in the distance. However, we managed to switch it off and the guy passed by unawares, just going about his business.

Exterior of the larger and newer middle of the southern three blocks

Rear of the block

The easternmost and nicest of the three blocks

Front entrance and stairwell

The room with the most old hospital vibes in the whole place

Bathroom looking a bit rough

As of today (feb 11th 2025) this site is currently on fire, may provide more opportunities to explore or may remove them altogether

 

[Maybematt]

news reports have confirmed that the fire is ongoing in the middle southern block

 

[RXQueen]

Yep, fire started at around 1.30 pm Today