History
The site was founded as an agricultural college, in accordance with the will of Charles Seale Hayne, a Liberal politician and Devon landowner. Construction of the building began in 1912 and was completed at the beginning of the First World War and was used as a training centre for Land Girls, before briefly serving as a military neurasthenic hospital, before the first students arrived in 1920. Significant expansion of the site took place following the Second World War, with over 1,000 students by 1986. The college later merged with the University of Plymouth and closed in 2005. Finally, the site was used by the Dame Hannah Rogers Trust, which supported children and adults with profound physical disabilities, until January 2019 when their facility at Seale Hayne was closed. Currently the site is up for sale, though is still confusingly home to around 50 independent businesses, most of which are located in the quadrangle.
The explore
Visited with prettyvacant. I really wasn’t sure what to expect of the place as the Dame Hannah Rogers Trust had only moved in in 2010, though there were some derelict looking buildings visible on Google maps around the site. When we started wandering around it certainly didn’t make things easier as the site is still home to many businesses, so we struggled working out what was disused, especially as it was a Sunday. Even the security guard, who has an office at the front of the quadrangle didn’t even know that part of the place had closed. We eventually found a way into the main hall and then the next day we got round a few of the other, long abandoned buildings and some tents.
Exterior of the original building, we didn't get in here but most of it is still in use
Courtyard in the quadrangle
Exterior of the great hall
The interior was a lovely bit of 50s architecture
The projector room
The hall seen through one of the projector holes
One of the slightly flooded spaces below the stage
The entrance to the Ian Moore social building, attached to the great hall
Agriculture Laboratory, disused since closure of the college in 2005
The backup generator house, located on the right
General view inside the backup generator house
Markon Engineering AC generator
Finally the slice of epic that you've all been waiting for: a pair of glamping tents
Thanks for looking
The site was founded as an agricultural college, in accordance with the will of Charles Seale Hayne, a Liberal politician and Devon landowner. Construction of the building began in 1912 and was completed at the beginning of the First World War and was used as a training centre for Land Girls, before briefly serving as a military neurasthenic hospital, before the first students arrived in 1920. Significant expansion of the site took place following the Second World War, with over 1,000 students by 1986. The college later merged with the University of Plymouth and closed in 2005. Finally, the site was used by the Dame Hannah Rogers Trust, which supported children and adults with profound physical disabilities, until January 2019 when their facility at Seale Hayne was closed. Currently the site is up for sale, though is still confusingly home to around 50 independent businesses, most of which are located in the quadrangle.
The explore
Visited with prettyvacant. I really wasn’t sure what to expect of the place as the Dame Hannah Rogers Trust had only moved in in 2010, though there were some derelict looking buildings visible on Google maps around the site. When we started wandering around it certainly didn’t make things easier as the site is still home to many businesses, so we struggled working out what was disused, especially as it was a Sunday. Even the security guard, who has an office at the front of the quadrangle didn’t even know that part of the place had closed. We eventually found a way into the main hall and then the next day we got round a few of the other, long abandoned buildings and some tents.
Exterior of the original building, we didn't get in here but most of it is still in use
Courtyard in the quadrangle
Exterior of the great hall
The interior was a lovely bit of 50s architecture
The projector room
The hall seen through one of the projector holes
One of the slightly flooded spaces below the stage
The entrance to the Ian Moore social building, attached to the great hall
Agriculture Laboratory, disused since closure of the college in 2005
The backup generator house, located on the right
General view inside the backup generator house
Markon Engineering AC generator
Finally the slice of epic that you've all been waiting for: a pair of glamping tents
Thanks for looking
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