St. Joseph's Seminary
The Explore
An unexpected trip but a very welcome one after a very kind last minute invite from Urblex, thanks mate
I happened to be in the Shropshire area as it turned out the day before the explore so was already two hours from home but more importantly, less than one hour from Wigan. I was faced with the choice of driving all the way home and returning in the middle of the night 40 squid of diesel lighter, or arriving 12 hours too early and spending the night in the car. Last June when access was a little more tricky here myself, Matt Inked and Catbalou attempted an insane access point here in the middle of an fucking monsoon for well over 18 hours and eventually had to return home defeated. In recent months the place has been appearing more and more online, all good for us at the time, but everyone knows that too easy an access normally only ends badly for the location, which is the most important thing in my opinion. Secca needs to get out of that cabin from time to time and keep the more unsavoury characters out before its DRI'd.
Anyway, i digress. I met up with Urblex, Ferox, a nice lady and gentleman called Kirsty and Paul from 28DL and I must've looked a state after a hypothermic half-sleep in my car nearby. Good to meet you all, cracking company!
Approximately 25 mins after the access we had our first taste of the ear shredder, fuck me, one to be experienced to be believed. A few minutes after eardrum hell started we decided we might as well push through the known alarmed areas while they were already belting out their decibels, turned a corner into the main corridor at lo and behold, standing at the end of the corridor was a tall bloke dressed in black gesturing us in his direction. Fuck sake, all that effort and busted within half an hour? I walked towards him with a couple of random people that appeared from nowhere just before the alarms started wailing. I could see his mouth moving but couldn't hear a thing, i just assumed he was giving us a bollocking and nodded accordingly. I noticed a Go-Pro attached to his chest but thought nothing of it at the time, in this day and age. He led us out of the of the noise and only then did I hear what he was saying then noticed the tripod on his back. Turns out he was a local explorer and knew the place like the back of his hand. What a mug I felt and he laughed when I told him that i thought he was escorting us off site haha. He said he's a member of OS but didn't mention his user name. If you're reading this mate, big thanks for the info and directions After a quick chin wag i realised i had lost the rest of the group in the commotion so spent the next hour mooching around on my todd whilst looking to re-group. We found each other and spent a good 4 hours exploring this mint place with lots of comedy moments, especially when we walked around blind corners to occasionally set off the alarms and heard other groups do the same a few floors below us. Lots of mini heart attacks each time lol, a fun morning out indeed!
The History
St Joseph's College was founded in 1880 by Father Dougal Maguire to be the Seminary serving the North West of England. The college was formally opened in 1883 and was situated in Walthew Park, Upholland, the geographic centre of the Diocese of Liverpool. St. Joseph's (usually referred to by its students simply as "Upholland") was one of two main seminaries serving the north of England. Upholland served the northwest, Ushaw College the northeast. For many years, each of these institutions housed both a junior and a senior seminary. The election of Archbishop Ted Crilly from Craggy Island saw the controversial decision to close St Joseph's altogether and the property was sold to Anglo International who instructed AEW Architects for the conversion of the Grade 2 listed RC Seminary to 92 apartments, with 220 new build enabling units.
The pictures
1. External taken Jun 14
2. Roof Pano
3.
4. Loved the roof detail in this place..
5.
6.
7. Ferox at work...
8. Turrrquoise Hall
9.
10. It appears that at one point the security office was in the main building...
11. Up the wobbly ladder to the clock tower with Urblex...
12. The White Arches..
13.
14.
15. Spider Apartments..
16.
17.
18. Spiraly-ness...
19.
20. Lower floors area...
21. Some kind of drying room..
22. Dinner Time..
23. The old classic from here..
As always, thanks for looking and feedback always appreciated folks
The Explore
An unexpected trip but a very welcome one after a very kind last minute invite from Urblex, thanks mate
I happened to be in the Shropshire area as it turned out the day before the explore so was already two hours from home but more importantly, less than one hour from Wigan. I was faced with the choice of driving all the way home and returning in the middle of the night 40 squid of diesel lighter, or arriving 12 hours too early and spending the night in the car. Last June when access was a little more tricky here myself, Matt Inked and Catbalou attempted an insane access point here in the middle of an fucking monsoon for well over 18 hours and eventually had to return home defeated. In recent months the place has been appearing more and more online, all good for us at the time, but everyone knows that too easy an access normally only ends badly for the location, which is the most important thing in my opinion. Secca needs to get out of that cabin from time to time and keep the more unsavoury characters out before its DRI'd.
Anyway, i digress. I met up with Urblex, Ferox, a nice lady and gentleman called Kirsty and Paul from 28DL and I must've looked a state after a hypothermic half-sleep in my car nearby. Good to meet you all, cracking company!
Approximately 25 mins after the access we had our first taste of the ear shredder, fuck me, one to be experienced to be believed. A few minutes after eardrum hell started we decided we might as well push through the known alarmed areas while they were already belting out their decibels, turned a corner into the main corridor at lo and behold, standing at the end of the corridor was a tall bloke dressed in black gesturing us in his direction. Fuck sake, all that effort and busted within half an hour? I walked towards him with a couple of random people that appeared from nowhere just before the alarms started wailing. I could see his mouth moving but couldn't hear a thing, i just assumed he was giving us a bollocking and nodded accordingly. I noticed a Go-Pro attached to his chest but thought nothing of it at the time, in this day and age. He led us out of the of the noise and only then did I hear what he was saying then noticed the tripod on his back. Turns out he was a local explorer and knew the place like the back of his hand. What a mug I felt and he laughed when I told him that i thought he was escorting us off site haha. He said he's a member of OS but didn't mention his user name. If you're reading this mate, big thanks for the info and directions
After a quick chin wag i realised i had lost the rest of the group in the commotion so spent the next hour mooching around on my todd whilst looking to re-group. We found each other and spent a good 4 hours exploring this mint place with lots of comedy moments, especially when we walked around blind corners to occasionally set off the alarms and heard other groups do the same a few floors below us. Lots of mini heart attacks each time lol, a fun morning out indeed!The History
St Joseph's College was founded in 1880 by Father Dougal Maguire to be the Seminary serving the North West of England. The college was formally opened in 1883 and was situated in Walthew Park, Upholland, the geographic centre of the Diocese of Liverpool. St. Joseph's (usually referred to by its students simply as "Upholland") was one of two main seminaries serving the north of England. Upholland served the northwest, Ushaw College the northeast. For many years, each of these institutions housed both a junior and a senior seminary. The election of Archbishop Ted Crilly from Craggy Island saw the controversial decision to close St Joseph's altogether and the property was sold to Anglo International who instructed AEW Architects for the conversion of the Grade 2 listed RC Seminary to 92 apartments, with 220 new build enabling units.
The pictures
1. External taken Jun 14
2. Roof Pano
3.
4. Loved the roof detail in this place..
5.
6.
7. Ferox at work...
8. Turrrquoise Hall
9.
10. It appears that at one point the security office was in the main building...
11. Up the wobbly ladder to the clock tower with Urblex...
12. The White Arches..
13.
14.
15. Spider Apartments..
16.
17.
18. Spiraly-ness...
19.
20. Lower floors area...
21. Some kind of drying room..
22. Dinner Time..
23. The old classic from here..
As always, thanks for looking and feedback always appreciated folks
Last edited by a moderator:
