Explored With @TheFerret and @Urbex_fox
History:
Opened in 1902, and known originally as Canterbury Borough Lunatic Asylum, the hospital was first built to accommodate 250 patients, a much smaller amount than other Asylums nearby.
During the first world war, West Sussex County Asylum saw a rapid increase in patients, resulting in the asylum being overrun and understaffed, meaning patients were to be transferred to Canterbury, ultimately resulting in the extension of some of its wards.
After the ending of WW1, the term Asylum was dropped in favour of mental hospital, in an effort to modernise the image of mental health institutions and eliminate the stigma surrounding them. This subsequently saw the Asylum renamed as "Canterbury City Mental Hospital", which remained in place until after WW2, where it was once again changed to "St Martin's Hospital" after a church nearby.
The nearby St Augustine's hospital management committee was set up to control operations of both St Martins hospital and it's own, this eventually saw St Martins become more of a specific shorter stay institution, as opposed to its function in previous years. After the closure of St Augustine's in 1993, St Martins was once again extended, with new units being constructed to the east of the site, which to this day are still in use.
Canterbury Borough Lunatic Asylum - Taken 1902
The Explore:
After receiving a tip-off from a friend of mine that the site had recently seised operating, myself and two mates decided to head down there mid last month for a poke around to see what the situation was, as we were all a little sceptical of its apparent abandonment.
But, as promised, it was completely empty, and so we began to search for an entrance, not knowing at the time whether or not entry would be possible, having not seen anything online about people having been in before us. However, we once again managed to locate a viable access point, and before we knew it, we were in the belly of this Edwardian style beast.
Once inside, we couldn't help but notice just how fresh this place was, seeing as it hadn't fallen into any state of disrepair, or even had any peeling paint on the walls. We were quite quick to realise the site on the other side of the fence was still active, as we could see some of the patients milling about in the grounds, so we decided to keep back from the windows facing their direction, plus the windows facing towards the dog unit van parked at the front ;-).
We must've spent nearly all afternoon exploring this place, and just when we thought we'd seen it all, another corridor, room, ward seemed to appear, taking our interest for yet another hour or more,
Although this wasn't quite a Severllas, it was still one of the larger sized hospitals I've had the privilege to explore, and I'm still convinced there sections I likely missed, given the complexity of the layout. All in all, this was definitely worth the trip.
1. B&W Shot
2.
3. The Main Hall
4.
5.
6.
7. Lightbulbs Still Intact
8.
9.
10.
11.
12. The Theater
13.
14.
15.
- That's All For Now -
_______________________
2.
3. The Main Hall
4.
5.
6.
7. Lightbulbs Still Intact
8.
9.
10.
11.
12. The Theater
13.
14.
15.
- That's All For Now -
_______________________
appreciate it
