Brecon and Radnor County Asylum, Talgarth
Visited with ImmortalOwl. I visited here in June of last year, shortly after all the roof tiles had been removed. That was in summer, and it was already drenched.
The 10 months since then has not been kind. As there is literally no roof, all of the rain that hits it (and remember, this is Wales we're talking about) pours straight into the rooms below. The harsh Welsh winter spelled the death sentence for the old hospital - the ceiling is now on the floor, wallpaper is folding away from the walls and a foul, black mould has crept across every door, wall and window frame.
One of the reasons I went back was to see how the rooms had changed, but I also wanted to see the admin block and chapel, and, most of all, to get up that clock tower. The admin block was in use as part of a business park when I last visited, which put the front of the hospital where the chapel is out of bounds. But the business park has now gone into recievership, leaving the handsome and impressive admin block open to 'splorers. I think it's listed as well, which means it's kept it's roof tiles, and as it's only been empty a matter of months it's intact too.
Here's the hospital's administration block, a fine slate-built building with stone detailings, handsome bay windows and an elegant clock tower, pictured circa 1910.
I'll quickly purloin a history from my last report for those who are interested:
I don't blame the guy tbh, though he should hang his head in shame at what he's let happen to the place. It's only a matter of time before admin gets fucked over too. But for the moment at least, it looks intact:
Administration
The first thing people would see of the hospital is a stunning entrance hall, with it's original tiled floor:
And this beautiful fireplace:
The hand carved mantlepiece is absolutely stunning. Christ, I hope they don't let this place get pikeyed.
Coming off the entrance hall were these light and airy high ceilinged corridors:
Which led to the plushest rooms in the place. This one was the Commitee Room, where the hospital governors would meet. On the other side was the Superintendents Office, but the Commitee Room was nicer, with it's marble fireplace and fine plasterwork. It still smelt of carpet.
:
The other rooms downstairs were still very nice - wooden floors and doors etc:
From the main entrance hall, a long tiled corridor led to some more offices, and the doors at the end join the main corridor network. It's quite odd - it goes from mosaic floors and polished wood to very derelict instantly through that door.
The staircase is a handsome affair - polished wooden handrails, cast metal bannisters and again, more tiled floors.
Upstairs is brightly lit, with more high ceilings and lots of wood. Spot the asylum-esque light fittings.
Unfortunatley, unlike downstairs the original doors have had a sheet of plywood stuck over them. That said, it doesn't look too bad unlike some NHS modernisation, which is really shite.
The upstairs rooms were fairly nice, with wooden floors and plush carpets, but it was the furniture that made it.
Clock Tower
It was a bit of a mission to get into the clock tower. Actually getting to the tower was easy, it's up in the loft. But even before I began to climb the ladder to the actual clock, I could here it was buzzing. I stuck my head up, and it was absolutely swarming with flies. I'm not talking 30 or 40, I'm talking several hundred. A couple of others have done the tower but that was before the fly season began. This was as far as I got before they began flying into my mouth:
I was about to give up and call it a day, when...
Bingo. A full can of flyspray. It looked about 50 years old and is probably a banned substance, but it did the trick, and I killed the whole fucking lot of them. Worth it ? I think so.
The clock mechanism is intact. I can see why people get excited about them, it's a beautiful little contraption.
Some ancient graffiti at the top of the tower:
Main Stores
The Main Stores were behind admin. Not especially interesting, but quite a nice building and I don't think I've seen it before.
Continued below.
Visited with ImmortalOwl. I visited here in June of last year, shortly after all the roof tiles had been removed. That was in summer, and it was already drenched.
The 10 months since then has not been kind. As there is literally no roof, all of the rain that hits it (and remember, this is Wales we're talking about) pours straight into the rooms below. The harsh Welsh winter spelled the death sentence for the old hospital - the ceiling is now on the floor, wallpaper is folding away from the walls and a foul, black mould has crept across every door, wall and window frame.
One of the reasons I went back was to see how the rooms had changed, but I also wanted to see the admin block and chapel, and, most of all, to get up that clock tower. The admin block was in use as part of a business park when I last visited, which put the front of the hospital where the chapel is out of bounds. But the business park has now gone into recievership, leaving the handsome and impressive admin block open to 'splorers. I think it's listed as well, which means it's kept it's roof tiles, and as it's only been empty a matter of months it's intact too.
Here's the hospital's administration block, a fine slate-built building with stone detailings, handsome bay windows and an elegant clock tower, pictured circa 1910.
I'll quickly purloin a history from my last report for those who are interested:
The hospital was designed by John Giles and opened on February 18th 1903, originally under the name Brecon and Radnor Joint Asylum, but in 1921 it changed its name to the Mid Wales Asylum. It was originally designed to cater for only 352 patients, but by the end of 1925 there were 455, leading to serious overcrowding. In 1994 the number had dwindled to around 140. It closed it's doors on April 7th 2000. The site was then sold off to its previous chief medical officer for pittance, which was somewhat controversial in the local area.
From a report by the Auditor General for Wales compiled in 2002;
From a report by the Auditor General for Wales compiled in 2002;
I don't blame the guy tbh, though he should hang his head in shame at what he's let happen to the place. It's only a matter of time before admin gets fucked over too. But for the moment at least, it looks intact:
Administration
The first thing people would see of the hospital is a stunning entrance hall, with it's original tiled floor:
And this beautiful fireplace:
The hand carved mantlepiece is absolutely stunning. Christ, I hope they don't let this place get pikeyed.
Coming off the entrance hall were these light and airy high ceilinged corridors:
Which led to the plushest rooms in the place. This one was the Commitee Room, where the hospital governors would meet. On the other side was the Superintendents Office, but the Commitee Room was nicer, with it's marble fireplace and fine plasterwork. It still smelt of carpet.
:
The other rooms downstairs were still very nice - wooden floors and doors etc:
From the main entrance hall, a long tiled corridor led to some more offices, and the doors at the end join the main corridor network. It's quite odd - it goes from mosaic floors and polished wood to very derelict instantly through that door.
The staircase is a handsome affair - polished wooden handrails, cast metal bannisters and again, more tiled floors.
Upstairs is brightly lit, with more high ceilings and lots of wood. Spot the asylum-esque light fittings.
Unfortunatley, unlike downstairs the original doors have had a sheet of plywood stuck over them. That said, it doesn't look too bad unlike some NHS modernisation, which is really shite.
The upstairs rooms were fairly nice, with wooden floors and plush carpets, but it was the furniture that made it.
Clock Tower
It was a bit of a mission to get into the clock tower. Actually getting to the tower was easy, it's up in the loft. But even before I began to climb the ladder to the actual clock, I could here it was buzzing. I stuck my head up, and it was absolutely swarming with flies. I'm not talking 30 or 40, I'm talking several hundred. A couple of others have done the tower but that was before the fly season began. This was as far as I got before they began flying into my mouth:
I was about to give up and call it a day, when...
Bingo. A full can of flyspray. It looked about 50 years old and is probably a banned substance, but it did the trick, and I killed the whole fucking lot of them. Worth it ? I think so.
The clock mechanism is intact. I can see why people get excited about them, it's a beautiful little contraption.
Some ancient graffiti at the top of the tower:
Main Stores
The Main Stores were behind admin. Not especially interesting, but quite a nice building and I don't think I've seen it before.
Continued below.
But it does contain the sink that would have been used in the mortuary. What a nice place to prepare food!
