Lexden kennels or Pas services, sit's just outside Colchester a mile away from a big retail park. The Info is very patchy on this place but what I have found is the following
History
Par air was an import and export facility for pets. The laws on importing or exporting pets until 2011 was very very strict in the uk, and some animals that are not from a select few countries, could face up to 6/8 month quarantine until they are declared safe. They are confined for their stay whilst medical tests are carried out.
The site also housed a general stay kennel at the top of the site. From what we found rummaging around, it closed down in 2014 after roughly 28 years of service. The company has now re branded and left the site, however they are still Colchester based, all be it a much smaller operation now. The laws on import and export of livestock where significantly relaxed in 2011. This may have been the reason for closing, the property still housed many posters and records about their import and export services. This lead us to believe that this was the main purpose, despite also being a kennel and cattery.
The explore
The building caught my eye whilst out on delivery one day. After a chat with my fellow explores we decided to go and have a look as none of us had realized there was anything there in the first place. The first thing that struct us was the size of the site. The house at the front of the site looked like it was probably lived in by the owners before close. The house is a fair size. Not an awful lot remains downstairs as far as furnishing goes.
At the back of the house is a very large room with branded PAS (Par Air Service) desk and exhibition cabinets. This looked to be the reception area. Over to the back corner of the room a spiral staircase takes you up to a office/admin area. international maps still decorate the walls and even a small wall safe. Lots of posters have been left and a few pieces of furniture remain. The rest of the upstairs looks more residential with 2 bedrooms at the front of the house and various other rooms including bathrooms etc.
After a rummage around the house we stumbled out of the dark and into the back yard. We where meet with many different out buildings. To the right of the house is a drive which dips down a hill to the back of the site, from signs and a look around the buildings we guessed the Quarantined animals head straight down to a fenced of kennel section at the back of the site.
At the bottom of the hill on the right is the general stay kennels, these had no medical type outbuildings and the kennels where open allowing the animals to see each other.The quarantine kennels at the back are fenced of with a large gates and looked a little over the top. More zombie apocalypse then "my dog might have the foreign sniffles". Small medical blocks still remain, and oddly enough a very large rose tree which was very impressively in bloom
A word of warning if you do fancy a visit, there is a lot of asbestos on site and if you fancy a walk through some of the more confined kennels it really does smell.
Thanks for reading
History
Par air was an import and export facility for pets. The laws on importing or exporting pets until 2011 was very very strict in the uk, and some animals that are not from a select few countries, could face up to 6/8 month quarantine until they are declared safe. They are confined for their stay whilst medical tests are carried out.
The site also housed a general stay kennel at the top of the site. From what we found rummaging around, it closed down in 2014 after roughly 28 years of service. The company has now re branded and left the site, however they are still Colchester based, all be it a much smaller operation now. The laws on import and export of livestock where significantly relaxed in 2011. This may have been the reason for closing, the property still housed many posters and records about their import and export services. This lead us to believe that this was the main purpose, despite also being a kennel and cattery.
The explore
The building caught my eye whilst out on delivery one day. After a chat with my fellow explores we decided to go and have a look as none of us had realized there was anything there in the first place. The first thing that struct us was the size of the site. The house at the front of the site looked like it was probably lived in by the owners before close. The house is a fair size. Not an awful lot remains downstairs as far as furnishing goes.
At the back of the house is a very large room with branded PAS (Par Air Service) desk and exhibition cabinets. This looked to be the reception area. Over to the back corner of the room a spiral staircase takes you up to a office/admin area. international maps still decorate the walls and even a small wall safe. Lots of posters have been left and a few pieces of furniture remain. The rest of the upstairs looks more residential with 2 bedrooms at the front of the house and various other rooms including bathrooms etc.
After a rummage around the house we stumbled out of the dark and into the back yard. We where meet with many different out buildings. To the right of the house is a drive which dips down a hill to the back of the site, from signs and a look around the buildings we guessed the Quarantined animals head straight down to a fenced of kennel section at the back of the site.
At the bottom of the hill on the right is the general stay kennels, these had no medical type outbuildings and the kennels where open allowing the animals to see each other.The quarantine kennels at the back are fenced of with a large gates and looked a little over the top. More zombie apocalypse then "my dog might have the foreign sniffles". Small medical blocks still remain, and oddly enough a very large rose tree which was very impressively in bloom
A word of warning if you do fancy a visit, there is a lot of asbestos on site and if you fancy a walk through some of the more confined kennels it really does smell.
Thanks for reading
