real time web analytics
Report - - St James Hospital, Portsmouth - April 2024 | Asylums and Hospitals | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - St James Hospital, Portsmouth - April 2024

Hide this ad by donating or subscribing !

wesleybrown

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
St James' Hospital opened in 1870 as the Portsmouth Borough Asylum. As was the fate of all the UK asylums post 1980 when mental health began to move more towards care in the community, St James' was eventually decommissioned and is currently on it's way to become the latest swanky new asylum housing estate. In more recent years it became the cities mental health administration centre and also housed a detox unit and a mental health day care project called The Orchards, which is the last remaining active part of the hospital.

I have had my eyes on the site since it closed 5 years ago. Initially it was just too new and shiny to really warrant bothering with. Having been used mostly for administration for the last 20 years, I was aware this hospital wasn''t going to deliver much on equipment or all the usual shiny things we find in hospitals. So it was just about sitting back and letting nature do it's thing. Sadly, local housing needs decided to give nature a helping hand and as the demolition trucks moved in a few weeks back, I figured it was now or never.

The first attempt was met with failure as the site was secured tight, security patrols are frequent and despite many hours of searching, we just couldn't find a way in. Several weeks later and a drone in the air showed that demolition was moving fast and possibly left a way in. We were met this time with what they felt was a more secure site. Heras that hadn't really been thought through, and a ton of CCTV signs with no obvious cameras did little to concern us. They clearly were not expecting explorers yet. We slid under the heras and came to head to head with a patrol pretty fast. A few minutes face down in a bush and we had evaded him. We bolted for the nearest building and found it wide open, once in, we had access to the entire site. We had to navigate lots of internal access points where they had sealed things internally, nothing that we didn't manage to find a way around. Anyway, all that just makes the explore right?

We had our eyes on the clock tower which sat directly above the dog vans and security hut. Sadly, we got busted but figured it was worth a shot. Security were cool, escorted us out and we managed to cover 99% of the site in just over 3 hours. Not a bad morning for a rainy day in Portsmouth.



st_james_-3.jpg


st_james_-4.jpg


st_james_-5.jpg


st_james_-6.jpg


st_james_-7.jpg


st_james_-8.jpg


st_james_-9.jpg


st_james_-10.jpg


st_james_-11.jpg


st_james_-12.jpg


st_james_-13.jpg


st_james_-14.jpg


st_james_-15.jpg


st_james_-16.jpg


st_james_.jpg
 
Last edited:

Wastelandr

Goes where the Buddleia grows
Regular User
Brilliant stuff, about time we had a decent report on this place. Hopefully the demolition isnt too swift but bit of a shame to its days are numbered
 

Bazza74

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Nicely captured, bit more modern but it shows itself well. Shame it’s being demolished!
love the piano shot and also the one with the windows in the side of the roof, looks a bit like a hall or church type room?
 

wesleybrown

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Nicely captured, bit more modern but it shows itself well. Shame it’s being demolished!
love the piano shot and also the one with the windows in the side of the roof, looks a bit like a hall or church type room?
Yeah it's the main entertainment hall. Those windows are on the three floors above and the clock tower, but we just couldn't find a way up internally. Hopefully another group can get some shots.
 

mookster

grumpy sod
Regular User
Really good to see this one at last even if it's a bit bland and sterile, it's a lovely building from the outside.
 

Calamity Jane

i see beauty in the unloved, places & things
Regular User
I wasn't expecting it to be so modernized, but a nice main hall there. And the bones of the place scream asylum still. Good job
 

captainautism

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Great pictures, the drone shots of this place are amazing. I love the look of these old style Victorian asylums, although it is such a great shame that a massive part of our history is being demolished day by day and that we won't have many of these places left in a few years.
 
Top