Some History
(From Wiki, though I'm sure you all know it!)
The hospital was designed by Frank Whitmore and William Town using an echelon formation layout. The foundation stone was laid by Sir Thomas Barrett-Lennard in June 1910 and it opened as the Second Essex County Asylum in May 1913. Villas were constructed around the main hospital building as accommodation blocks and there was a detached building for the medical superintendent. The nurses' home was extended and the whole facility was renamed the Essex and Colchester Mental Hospital in the 1930s.
The hospital joined the NHS in 1948. After the introduction of Care in the Community in the early 1980s the hospital went into a period of decline and eventually closed in March 1997. The North Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust announced the sale of the site to a consortium of Bellway, Taylor Wimpey and Bloor Homes in February 2016. The consortium submitted plans to redevelop the site for residential use in July 2018. Present Day, only the Administration building, water tower and one solitary wing remain, the other 300 acres razed for housing.
The Visit
This report is actually made up of the best I took from 3 visits over 2007 and 2008 (Yeah, I know, I had a rubbish camera 12-13 years ago!) and before I really knew how to use one. I visited with NeX, DiscoKitten, Moof and a couple of others I sadly cannot remember any more.
The first time I went I remember DK was my guide, working our way through the service tunnels to avoid THAT fence; which was hard work for a tall person like me constantly being stooped over for an age. Once we were eventually in, DK had to go back and get some others to help them in through the tunnels and she asked if I wanted to go back with her. I politely declined and spent the next 30 minutes or so sat in an isolation cell waiting for her and the others to return - a creepy experience, surrounded with nothing but silence and the occasional rustle of leaves or bird call from outside.
All in all, I never had any trouble with the legend that is Michael - somehow I avoided him each visit, spending 5, 6, 7 hours there at a time, which still isn't enough to see it all. I managed to climbed the pigeon poop mecca that was the water tower, avoiding a dunk in the stagnant pool below; managed to locate the morgue and Myland Court; checked out the villas and stared in awe at the multitude of corridors ahead.
Although this is a historic report from 13 years ago, I have only recently got into the exploring scene again, and renewed my membership here again; so keep your eyes peeled for more reports from me!
Here are the mediocre pictures! Mainly it is the corridors, but who doesn't love Severalls' spooky hallways?
This is All gone now, aside from Admin.
And there we have it, thank you for staying awake if you made it this far! Sadly this place is no longer around, which just gives me more drive to see more of these places before they all disappear.
(From Wiki, though I'm sure you all know it!)
The hospital was designed by Frank Whitmore and William Town using an echelon formation layout. The foundation stone was laid by Sir Thomas Barrett-Lennard in June 1910 and it opened as the Second Essex County Asylum in May 1913. Villas were constructed around the main hospital building as accommodation blocks and there was a detached building for the medical superintendent. The nurses' home was extended and the whole facility was renamed the Essex and Colchester Mental Hospital in the 1930s.
The hospital joined the NHS in 1948. After the introduction of Care in the Community in the early 1980s the hospital went into a period of decline and eventually closed in March 1997. The North Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust announced the sale of the site to a consortium of Bellway, Taylor Wimpey and Bloor Homes in February 2016. The consortium submitted plans to redevelop the site for residential use in July 2018. Present Day, only the Administration building, water tower and one solitary wing remain, the other 300 acres razed for housing.
The Visit
This report is actually made up of the best I took from 3 visits over 2007 and 2008 (Yeah, I know, I had a rubbish camera 12-13 years ago!) and before I really knew how to use one. I visited with NeX, DiscoKitten, Moof and a couple of others I sadly cannot remember any more.
The first time I went I remember DK was my guide, working our way through the service tunnels to avoid THAT fence; which was hard work for a tall person like me constantly being stooped over for an age. Once we were eventually in, DK had to go back and get some others to help them in through the tunnels and she asked if I wanted to go back with her. I politely declined and spent the next 30 minutes or so sat in an isolation cell waiting for her and the others to return - a creepy experience, surrounded with nothing but silence and the occasional rustle of leaves or bird call from outside.
All in all, I never had any trouble with the legend that is Michael - somehow I avoided him each visit, spending 5, 6, 7 hours there at a time, which still isn't enough to see it all. I managed to climbed the pigeon poop mecca that was the water tower, avoiding a dunk in the stagnant pool below; managed to locate the morgue and Myland Court; checked out the villas and stared in awe at the multitude of corridors ahead.
Although this is a historic report from 13 years ago, I have only recently got into the exploring scene again, and renewed my membership here again; so keep your eyes peeled for more reports from me!
Here are the mediocre pictures! Mainly it is the corridors, but who doesn't love Severalls' spooky hallways?
This is All gone now, aside from Admin.
And there we have it, thank you for staying awake if you made it this far! Sadly this place is no longer around, which just gives me more drive to see more of these places before they all disappear.