St Joseph's Seminary
February 2013
A visit with sweet_pea and Cachewoo
A thoroughly enjoyable explore, I was worried about getting to sweet's house 15 minutes late, to find
he hadn't even gotten out of bed yet. This was followed by a really chilled explore around St Joseph's,
where we'd arranged to meet up with a new face; Cachewoo - fantastic guy to splore with.
I was trying out a new 35mm lens, need more practice, but I'm quite happy with the results.
All the below photos are as taken, hope you enjoy
A little word of warning, if anyone plans to go up to the statue of St. Joseph, there is an awful lot of
pigeon mess everywhere on the way up, and the stairs are an accident waiting to happen.
History
The St Joseph's Missionary Society (Mill Hill Missionaries) was founded in 1866 by Father Herbert Vaughan, it was
the first catholic missionary society to be founded in England. This college in Mill Hill was first opened in 1871 as a
seminary for Priests training to go on missions abroad. It is set on almost 7 acres of land and has had several
pieces of extension work over the years, most notably 1 wing in the 1930's and another in the 1950's. The mission
sold the building and some land in 2005 though the wider surrounding land still belongs to them. There is also a
Jesuit cemetery on the grounds. The building is Grade II listed.
Permission was granted in 2008 for the re-use and partial redevelopment of the building for use as a care home
and for the demolition of some of the late additions, such as the two wings mentioned above, though this never
materialised. From what I can gather, there have been many discussions and proposals for this property.
The college was on the market for £25m and I think Barclays Group currently own the land and they plan to start
turning this place in to 40-50 luxury flats this Spring.
There have been a few castings of this location in TV/Film, most notably BBC's Call The Midwife, which is rumoured
to be writing the destruction of the convent in to their storyline, as they will no longer be able to use it once work starts.
1. One of the main entrances
2. Above the door
3.
4. Toilets - Did anyone else think there were loads of toilets here?
5.
6.
7. A corridor and sweet_pea being himself on the second level of the library
8. The library
9. On one of the bedroom walls
10. Random or what?
11.
12. ...may be masturbating
13. Something that us explorers know only too well!
14. The chapel wall
15. Loved this place!
16. Candle with a wreath of Poppies
17.
18. sweet_pea trying to get a shot!
19. sweet_pea, MrDan & Cachewoo
20. At the top of a pillar in the chapel
21. The bell
22. One from the ground, and one from the top!
23. While the people in the houses were having a lay-in on a sunday morning... We were...
24. A view from the top
25. The gold leafed Statue of St Joseph
26. Twist me
27.
[/QUOTE]February 2013
A visit with sweet_pea and Cachewoo
A thoroughly enjoyable explore, I was worried about getting to sweet's house 15 minutes late, to find
he hadn't even gotten out of bed yet. This was followed by a really chilled explore around St Joseph's,
where we'd arranged to meet up with a new face; Cachewoo - fantastic guy to splore with.
I was trying out a new 35mm lens, need more practice, but I'm quite happy with the results.
All the below photos are as taken, hope you enjoy
A little word of warning, if anyone plans to go up to the statue of St. Joseph, there is an awful lot of
pigeon mess everywhere on the way up, and the stairs are an accident waiting to happen.
History
The St Joseph's Missionary Society (Mill Hill Missionaries) was founded in 1866 by Father Herbert Vaughan, it was
the first catholic missionary society to be founded in England. This college in Mill Hill was first opened in 1871 as a
seminary for Priests training to go on missions abroad. It is set on almost 7 acres of land and has had several
pieces of extension work over the years, most notably 1 wing in the 1930's and another in the 1950's. The mission
sold the building and some land in 2005 though the wider surrounding land still belongs to them. There is also a
Jesuit cemetery on the grounds. The building is Grade II listed.
Permission was granted in 2008 for the re-use and partial redevelopment of the building for use as a care home
and for the demolition of some of the late additions, such as the two wings mentioned above, though this never
materialised. From what I can gather, there have been many discussions and proposals for this property.
The college was on the market for £25m and I think Barclays Group currently own the land and they plan to start
turning this place in to 40-50 luxury flats this Spring.
There have been a few castings of this location in TV/Film, most notably BBC's Call The Midwife, which is rumoured
to be writing the destruction of the convent in to their storyline, as they will no longer be able to use it once work starts.
1. One of the main entrances
2. Above the door
3.
4. Toilets - Did anyone else think there were loads of toilets here?
5.
6.
7. A corridor and sweet_pea being himself on the second level of the library
8. The library
9. On one of the bedroom walls
10. Random or what?
11.
12. ...may be masturbating
13. Something that us explorers know only too well!
14. The chapel wall
15. Loved this place!
16. Candle with a wreath of Poppies
17.
18. sweet_pea trying to get a shot!
19. sweet_pea, MrDan & Cachewoo
20. At the top of a pillar in the chapel
21. The bell
22. One from the ground, and one from the top!
23. While the people in the houses were having a lay-in on a sunday morning... We were...
24. A view from the top
25. The gold leafed Statue of St Joseph
26. Twist me
27.
