Hi all, Both myself and @slayaaaa decided we should put this in here as its a pretty busy site and the water tower and boiler room are both pretty active.
The history
I’ll just cover this briefly as this explore wasn’t really about the hospital
Goodmayes hospital formally known as The West Ham Borough Asylum officially opened on 1st August 1901. Following the Local Government Act, 1888, West Ham became a County Borough on 1st April 1889. As one of its first acts, the councillors decided that the new Borough should have its own asylum for mentally ill paupers rather than continue to use the Essex County Asylum later known as Warley Asylum in Brentwood.
Built on a Compact Arrow layout, with a south-facing aspect, the central Administrative Block was flanked on either side with four ward pavilions, one designated for the sick and infirm, another for acute cases, one for epileptic patients and the last for chronic cases. The site also contained a kitchen, a mortuary, workshops, staff quarters, a laundry and farm buildings. An artesian well had been sunk to provide a water supply, and the necessary pumping plant and water tower had also been built.
The Asylum farm, located to the south of the site, provided produce for the institution and an occupation for the inmates.
The boiler house and laundry blocks had been extended, and an additional artesian well had been sunk to the depth of 415 ft (127 metres). Its pump was capable of pumping 12,000 gallons of water per hour up to the main tank in the water tower.
The Hospital site is still currently in use, with the laundry, water tower and boiler house providing services also for the newer King George Hospital.
The Explore
Again out with my regular gang, @slayaaaa and two non members, this one was more than a little exciting for us. Both myself and Slayaaaa have visited the Goodmayes site a number of times, but never together. Neither of us had managed the boiler room or the tower either, despite many attempts.
After a mooch around the old part hospital, which involved meeting a polish security guard who seemed unsure at first why we were taking pictures, but then told us that “many people have taken pictures” before he promptly turfed us out.
After that we had a wander around the outside of the building and headed back to the car.
As a bit of an after thought we decided to check the boiler room. We already knew the door was alarmed but I tried it any way. At this point @slayaaaa and the other were around the corner. With great amazement the door opened and I just stood there. All was good and the alarm wasn’t going off. I tried to call the others but didn’t want to make to much noise. I hastily checked my pockets for something to jam in the door as I didn’t want to close it encase it locked. I had nothing, so with my foot jammed in the door I called for the others. It was pointless as I was trying not to be too loud. Eventually they heard me and came to the door but thought I was joking about it being open until I opened it fully in front of them.
Wow, in we went. It was a bit daunting as the boiler room has two lots of huge glass windows and is very well lit inside. We ran around inside until we found a door. We opened it and the familiar stench of pigeon shit filled our noses and we knew we had hit gold and we entered the bottom of the water tower.
In the corner of the tower was a cast iron spiral staircase that took us virtually to the top of the tower. We had a walk around the tanks and eventually opened the door to the balcony and the outside world.
The view from the towers balcony was breath taking. From up there you can see right into London. Canary Wharf, the O2, the cable cars everything is visible as you look over London
What an amazing view and an amazing tower
As always please enjoy the pictures
The history
I’ll just cover this briefly as this explore wasn’t really about the hospital
Goodmayes hospital formally known as The West Ham Borough Asylum officially opened on 1st August 1901. Following the Local Government Act, 1888, West Ham became a County Borough on 1st April 1889. As one of its first acts, the councillors decided that the new Borough should have its own asylum for mentally ill paupers rather than continue to use the Essex County Asylum later known as Warley Asylum in Brentwood.
Built on a Compact Arrow layout, with a south-facing aspect, the central Administrative Block was flanked on either side with four ward pavilions, one designated for the sick and infirm, another for acute cases, one for epileptic patients and the last for chronic cases. The site also contained a kitchen, a mortuary, workshops, staff quarters, a laundry and farm buildings. An artesian well had been sunk to provide a water supply, and the necessary pumping plant and water tower had also been built.
The Asylum farm, located to the south of the site, provided produce for the institution and an occupation for the inmates.
The boiler house and laundry blocks had been extended, and an additional artesian well had been sunk to the depth of 415 ft (127 metres). Its pump was capable of pumping 12,000 gallons of water per hour up to the main tank in the water tower.
The Hospital site is still currently in use, with the laundry, water tower and boiler house providing services also for the newer King George Hospital.
The Explore
Again out with my regular gang, @slayaaaa and two non members, this one was more than a little exciting for us. Both myself and Slayaaaa have visited the Goodmayes site a number of times, but never together. Neither of us had managed the boiler room or the tower either, despite many attempts.
After a mooch around the old part hospital, which involved meeting a polish security guard who seemed unsure at first why we were taking pictures, but then told us that “many people have taken pictures” before he promptly turfed us out.
After that we had a wander around the outside of the building and headed back to the car.
As a bit of an after thought we decided to check the boiler room. We already knew the door was alarmed but I tried it any way. At this point @slayaaaa and the other were around the corner. With great amazement the door opened and I just stood there. All was good and the alarm wasn’t going off. I tried to call the others but didn’t want to make to much noise. I hastily checked my pockets for something to jam in the door as I didn’t want to close it encase it locked. I had nothing, so with my foot jammed in the door I called for the others. It was pointless as I was trying not to be too loud. Eventually they heard me and came to the door but thought I was joking about it being open until I opened it fully in front of them.
Wow, in we went. It was a bit daunting as the boiler room has two lots of huge glass windows and is very well lit inside. We ran around inside until we found a door. We opened it and the familiar stench of pigeon shit filled our noses and we knew we had hit gold and we entered the bottom of the water tower.
In the corner of the tower was a cast iron spiral staircase that took us virtually to the top of the tower. We had a walk around the tanks and eventually opened the door to the balcony and the outside world.
The view from the towers balcony was breath taking. From up there you can see right into London. Canary Wharf, the O2, the cable cars everything is visible as you look over London
What an amazing view and an amazing tower
As always please enjoy the pictures
