After not visiting since last year, we managed two visits in a week.
Anyway a breif history of the place:
Severalls Hospital in Colchester, Essex, United Kingdom was a psychiatric hospital built in 1910 to the design of architect Frank Whitmore. It opened in May 1913.
The 300-acre (1.2 km2) site housed some 2000 patients and was based on the "Echelon plan" - a specific arrangement of wards, offices and services within easy reach of each other by a network of interconnecting corridors. This meant that staff were able to operate around the site without the need to go outside in bad weather. Unlike modern British hospitals, patients in Severalls were separated according to their gender. Villas were constructed around the main hospital building as accommodation blocks between 1910 and 1935. Most of the buildings are in the Queen Anne style, with few architectural embellishments, typical of the Edwardian period. The most ornate buildings are the Administration Building, Larch House and Severalls House.
Currently the new north approach road (NAR3) for Colchester is being built, which essentially runs next to and through Severalls. The map is here if you are interested:
http://www.essex.gov.uk/Environment%20Planning/Planning/Transport-planning/Travel-improvements/Documents/NAR3-surface-level-construction.pdf
Explore 1:
We were driving right past so decided on the spur of the minute to pop in. However it was 8:45 in the evening and we as didn't bring any torches, we just did a few external shots then went off to get ice cream.
Explore 2:
A few days later we went on a proper visit, very early start and a good few hours of exploring. It surprised me that even since last year the place has noticeably degraded. We tried to get to all the places we missed last time. We had no luck getting into admin, but after a video game style jumping game in the flooded basement, we did manage to climb the water tower.
After some 15 minutes of enjoying the view, probably making more noise than we should, the figure of Michael, hands on his hips, shouted up to us and our visit was over.
Anyway a breif history of the place:
Severalls Hospital in Colchester, Essex, United Kingdom was a psychiatric hospital built in 1910 to the design of architect Frank Whitmore. It opened in May 1913.
The 300-acre (1.2 km2) site housed some 2000 patients and was based on the "Echelon plan" - a specific arrangement of wards, offices and services within easy reach of each other by a network of interconnecting corridors. This meant that staff were able to operate around the site without the need to go outside in bad weather. Unlike modern British hospitals, patients in Severalls were separated according to their gender. Villas were constructed around the main hospital building as accommodation blocks between 1910 and 1935. Most of the buildings are in the Queen Anne style, with few architectural embellishments, typical of the Edwardian period. The most ornate buildings are the Administration Building, Larch House and Severalls House.
Currently the new north approach road (NAR3) for Colchester is being built, which essentially runs next to and through Severalls. The map is here if you are interested:
http://www.essex.gov.uk/Environment%20Planning/Planning/Transport-planning/Travel-improvements/Documents/NAR3-surface-level-construction.pdf
Explore 1:
We were driving right past so decided on the spur of the minute to pop in. However it was 8:45 in the evening and we as didn't bring any torches, we just did a few external shots then went off to get ice cream.
Explore 2:
A few days later we went on a proper visit, very early start and a good few hours of exploring. It surprised me that even since last year the place has noticeably degraded. We tried to get to all the places we missed last time. We had no luck getting into admin, but after a video game style jumping game in the flooded basement, we did manage to climb the water tower.
After some 15 minutes of enjoying the view, probably making more noise than we should, the figure of Michael, hands on his hips, shouted up to us and our visit was over.
that place looks like a good day out!
