Uploads from tj.blackwell, tagged pauper, with geodata

High Royds Psychiatric Hospital

nobody@flickr.com (tj.blackwell) — Tue, 24 May 2011 16:33:35 -0700

High Royds is a former psychiatric hospital situated on the outskirts of Menston in the county of Yorkshire. It was first opened in 1888 as the "West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum" and continued operating to some extent right up until 2003. The stern Gothic architecture of the old buildings and the decaying state of its labyrinthine corridors makes it an incredibly atmospheric and photogenic place.

A large part of the site has been knocked down and converted into twee, uninspiring residential property as part of a redevelopment project to disguise the building's medical past and create a new housing estate called High Royds Village. Some of the older sections of the structure, however, are listed buildings and as such have been protected from demolition.

The construction work is due to make alterations here in attempts to incorporate the listed structures with the rest of the housing project. Currently, however, this part of the old hospital remains mostly untouched and is sitting in a broodingly decrepit state, its silence only broken by the footsteps of occasional urban explorers.

David Dimbleby made a visit here during the filming of his documentary series, "How We Built Britain". It's a wonderfully made program, and highly recommended: click here to watch the High Royds clip.

The Lunatic Asylum

nobody@flickr.com (tj.blackwell) — Tue, 24 May 2011 16:26:34 -0700

tj.blackwell posted a photo:

In its prime, High Royds was a vast complex operating not just as a hospital but as an entire "town for the insane". At one time it included a library, surgery, dispensary, ballroom, butchers, dairies, bakers and even its own railway. The site continued to grow throughout the early 1900s, and contained a peak population of 2,420 patients during the second world war.

David Dimbleby made a visit here during the filming of his documentary series, "How We Built Britain". It's a wonderfully made program, and highly recommended: click here to watch the High Royds clip.

If you'd like to see an aerial view of where this picture was taken, click here.

Derelict Corridors of High Royds

nobody@flickr.com (tj.blackwell) — Tue, 24 May 2011 16:08:17 -0700

tj.blackwell posted a photo:

There are some fantastic gnarled textures along these corridors, which become increasingly wizened with time as their ancient paintwork begins to claw back on itself and peel from the walls. We were exploring this section just as the first rays of morning sunshine came out, which helpfully illuminated the scene to create some really moody contrast.

Click here for an aerial view of where this picture was taken.

Requiem For A Dream

nobody@flickr.com (tj.blackwell) — Tue, 24 May 2011 15:58:48 -0700

tj.blackwell posted a photo:

Designed by architect Edward J.Vickers over a century ago, these stern Gothic towers ring out with silent memories of the thousands who were once interned here. No institution in the the health services of modern day England can quite compare to the scale and breadth of this self-reliant asylum village in its heyday.

The building itself is a truly magnificent example of Vickers Edwards architecture, hewn by Victorian miners from local gritstone quarries. Its soaring walls stand in defiance of the outside world, isolating and insulating the many former wards, blocks and administrative buildings within. I couldn't help but imagine that there was a certain atmosphere of "Shawshank Redemption" about the place!

Click here for an aerial view of where this picture was taken.

One Flew East, One Flew West...

nobody@flickr.com (tj.blackwell) — Tue, 24 May 2011 15:58:32 -0700

tj.blackwell posted a photo:

...One flew over the cuckoo's nest.

Psychiatric hospitals appear as popular narrative settings throughout 20th century literature. Historically they have been treated as a way to cordon off uncomfortable social problems and shut away the people whom mainstream society cannot accommodate.

Literary examinations of asylums and their patients often explore notions of how we define sanity, and the arbitrary grey area where overconfident medical diagnoses draw the line between a normal mind and a "defective" one. Ken Kesey's famous novel was a notable critique of the mental ward, looking upon it as an instrument of oppression comparable to a prison. For some people, however, these institutions were a place of safe refuge in the midst of a confusing and scary wider world.

Red Sky At Night: Asylum Sundown

nobody@flickr.com (tj.blackwell) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 14:36:45 -0800

tj.blackwell posted a photo:

This latest set of uploads was shot for a forthcoming report by Urban Ghosts Media. Having visited the abandoned interior of High Royds Asylum on several prior occasions, it felt only fitting to return to this venue in order to capture a few more views of the former hospital's incredible gothic facades from the outside.

After enduring a thoroughly uninspiring Saturday of grey cloud overhead, I impulsively picked up my camera gear and decided to set off for Menston (just in case there was any kind of sunset). Thankfully the effort was rewarded with this beautiful canvas of salmon-hued sky as the light began to fall. One of the best characteristics of the local sandstone is its quartz composition and bright creamy tones, which make it soak up natural lighting conditions like a chameleon changing its stripes depending on the time of day.

Here you can see the centrepiece of the old hospital - a formidably lofty clock tower, which looms high above the building's central administration block.

High Royds: The Front Approach

nobody@flickr.com (tj.blackwell) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 14:31:39 -0800

tj.blackwell posted a photo:

The stern, austere symmetry of this old asylum seems to be something of a Victorian metaphor. Such neatly aligned, perfectly mirrored structural architecture across the 300 acre site was designed to be symbolic of carefully crafted order and regularity for the confused souls who were interned within its walls.

To see a few historical photographs of the administration block's exterior, offset against the building's current modern-day dereliction, click here for a video slideshow.

Glowing Sandstone of Amerdale Ward

nobody@flickr.com (tj.blackwell) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 14:27:33 -0800

tj.blackwell posted a photo:

The former hospital's female half was the first section to be set upon by residential development, and people have already moved into some of the newly created living spaces which have been spliced and diced from these old medical treatment blocks.

Whilst I am often quite dry and cynical in describing the modern-day construction work here, I must confess that it is a pleasure to see these buildings being saved from decay and preserved as a relic - even though the stories of what once transpired within these walls will increasingly fade into memory as the work here advances.

The Menston Blues

nobody@flickr.com (tj.blackwell) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 14:23:17 -0800

tj.blackwell posted a photo:

...a deep blue dusk fell over High Royds, which was gently illuminated by a crescent moon as spotlights installed in the old clock tower began to flicker into life for the evening.

I don't know whether I'm just projecting my historical knowledge onto this place, but there's a mysterious and haunting quality about it which makes a slight shiver run down my spine when visiting on quiet evenings (or at dawn). This central administration building has been cleaned up on the outside but remains the only part of the former hospital which is still largely untouched by interior construction work.

Shady Corners

nobody@flickr.com (tj.blackwell) — Tue, 24 May 2011 14:21:54 -0700

tj.blackwell posted a photo:

Early morning daylight gradually spills through ground floor windows in the former Stainton/Marrick ward, causing shadows to melt across its decaying surfaces.