Play from 10:06 to watch our footage of Gartloch Asylum If you’ve ever watched a horror film or read a scary book about a psychiatric hospital in the middle of nowhere, you might picture somewhere like Gartloch Asylum. The imposing administration building with its two striking towers still stands today and is one of the…
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The Murray Royal Hospital in Perth is Scotland’s oldest surviving asylum and was one of the grandest built. The now derelict asylum was named after local man James Murray who funded the construction of the hospital after inheriting “considerable wealth.” Designed by William Burn, the original plans were based on designs for West Riding Asylum,…
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High Royds in Menston is one of the most well-documented and now infamous of the county asylums to be built, instantly recognizable by its looming clocktower. In 1885, some 300 acres of land was purchased and over the next 3 years construction work began to build one of the more lavish asylums ever constructed. The…
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Roundway Hospital dates back to the 1840’s when a committee of Justices approved plans for an asylum in Wiltshire. Forty-eight acres of land was purchased and architect Thomas Henry Wyatt was brought in to design the asylum, who went for an Italianate style. Stone for the buildings was mined locally and slate for the roof…
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This humble little chapel in Tillingham, on the Dengie Peninsula in Essex, was completed in 1867 for the Perculiar People. They were strict Puritan group founded in Rochford in 1838, and this religious trend spread through Victorian Essex. They attended day-long services on Sundays which often involved prayer and hymns in strict fashion, complete with…
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Today this former asylum is owned by the University of West England (UWE) and is home to hundreds of students who studying medical courses. With various hospital wards and beds – all of these are mockups used for training but fortunately the university have retained many features of the 140 year old building. St Peter’s…
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In 1889 Kesteven became its own authority and was required by law to have any asylum so the search began to find a suitable site for building one. Sixteen sites were shortlisted and the land at Rauceby was the cheapest so the 112 acre site was chosen. Five different architects were asked to submit designs,…
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The former Royal Navy Ordnance Depot has been based here since the late 17th century, used to store and prepare munitions for the naval ships laid up on the River Medway at Chatham. Situated opposite Chatham Dockyard the depot was an important part of the daily activity at the dockyard and due to its location…
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Situated just half a mile away from Coalhouse Fort, East Tilbury Battery, was constructed from 1887-93 and supplemented Coalhouse Fort as part of the Thames’ coastal defence system. It housed six breech-loading guns, mounted on disappearing carriages. There was two 10-inch guns in the centre, and two pairs of 6-pdr guns on either flank. At…
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This battery is perhaps one of Cliffe’s least well-recognised pieces of ruined defence heritage. The initial Lower Hope Battery was built to defend the Thames Estuary at Lower Hope Point from around 1796, predating the Palmerston Fort defence scheme in the wider area such as Cliffe, Shornemead and Coalhouse Fort by almost 70 years. It…
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