Severalls Mental Hospital, Colchester - Essex (April 2014)

[upright_ninja]

Well... I thought it was about time I ventured over to the mighty Severalls to see what all the fuss is about! Along with 28DL member '12318', a sparrow-fart early start was in order and off we trotted! Access was up to the usual Sevs standard but we did it with a bit of perseverance, ignoring the inbuilt brain fault telling us "how difficult a climb can it be?"....! Once inside we headed round in the comfort of the buildings and, following the corridors, ventured around maybe half of the site until... Graham the Security guard put an end to our joviality! To be fair, he is one of the good guys and politely escorted us off site, telling us of the plethora of 'urbexers' he's had the pleasure of meeting. So, despite our stealthy prowess... we were rumbled! Unfortunate, as we were getting into our stride and had managed to see a bag full of the delights inside. Perhaps another day to finish the job!

Here's a bit of history:

Situated just north of Colchester (The oldest recorded town in Britain, apparently), Severall's Asylum was built in 1910 and opened it's doors for the treatment of patient's with mental health issues by 1913. The hospital, owned by Essex County Council, was the second one built in Essex to help accommodate patients in addition to Warley Hospital near Brentwood. It's design was the combined effort of F Whitmore and W.H. Town in the Edwardian 'Art & Crafts' style of facing red brickwork and large sash, bay windows giving it a simple, yet elegant look. Being connected by a huge network of corridors, the staff were able to navigate to all parts of the complex and the functional buildings housed everything from in-patient accommodation, wards and isolation units, to kitchens, laundry and workshop facilities to keep the hospital pretty much self sufficient.

The hospital faithfully served Colchester and the wider community for nearly ninety years and survived two World Wars despite being bombed in 1942 by the German Luftwaffe who mistook the hospital for a factory, resulting in the tragic deaths of 38 patients. Many more were wounded. The hospital finally succumbed to the 'Mental Health & Care in the Community Act', closing it's doors for the last time in 1997.

Numerous planning applications have been submitted since the hospital's closure but haven't seen any development or restoration work commence. Speaking to Graham the security bloke today confirmed that the demolition of the entire site is imminent, but, this has been mentioned countless times over the last fifteen years or so and could just be a usual ploy to discourage further breaches.

I'd like to think we'll get another chance to see all we missed today but if these rumours are indeed true, the end of Severall's could be on the horizon.

Here are some of the 177 shots I took today. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them and I'm glad I got the chance to cross this one off the list! Apologies for this being a bit image-heavy and all in mono... erm... I'm not sorry really!

A truly magnificent place and such a shame to see it in a state of disrepair... but then again, it wouldn't hold the same appeal if it was normal!

Thanks for having a look... and thanks again to 28DL member 12318 for joining me and not pointing and laughing at this middle-aged loser trying to scale fences designed for a Russian gymnast!

 

[Lara]

Lovely!! You covered quite a lot of her, its a iconic place! Once is never enough, you have to go back Nice to see in black and white, thanks for sharing

 

[The_Raw]

Nice one dude, went just recently myself and there's a whole heap of stuff here that I didn't see (there's more than ONE chair??!!!) which highlights indeed that one trip is never enough!

 

[skeleton key]

Cool set there and so agree a location due to its scale always calls for a few visits to cover the place fully.

So many of the iconic Hospitals / Asylums have either been now demolished , converted or a combination of the two

and does make you wonder how long this one will remain?

Good to see youve made it and am sure now tasted will see a return of the Russian gymnast lol

 

[Nelly]

Ah Sevs!!! Nice to see it again. Glad you had fun, is Micheal no longer Head Urbex Catcher???

 

[upright_ninja]

We didn't meet the infamous Michael, although his reputation precedes him as I believe he's also a decent security bloke. I think Graham must have spotted us scouting for a way into the water tower. Complacency got the better of us so we won't be making that mistake again. It's a fascinating place and the unexplained noises were rife. There were plenty of animals foraging around outside, pigeons putting the shits up us and we're convinced we heard something being dragged on a big sheet of plastic! Eerie place!

 

[klempner69]

Well done that man

 

[shaddam]

very nicely done fella

 

[Stussy]

Love a bit of Sevs, great set of pics!