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View Full Version : Archived: West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum AKA High Royds, Leeds, March 2012



BadBatz
27-03-2012, 09:45 AM
Visited with True British Metal (from 28) Non forum Ryan (from Uni and other escapades) and my mate Andy (Bottle of wine by 10am when we got there, oh the joy!) anyway.........

Access was easy enough, explore was chilled and apart from 1 bit, didn't feel odd at all!

We had some fun with security afterwards.........they appeared to turf us off the LAWN and i had to ask if we could have a look inside.............I was told no-one gets inside it's patrolled (not when we were in) and camera'd (yeah.........ok) and MOTION SENSORED! (hmmmmmmmmmm)

Even though it's been told over and over, here's wikipedia's history of the place!

High Royds Hospital is a former psychiatric hospital south of the village of Menston, West Yorkshire, England. The hospital is located in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough as the border with the City of Bradford metropolitan borough passes between the hospital and the village. It was first opened on 8 October 1888 as the West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum, and was closed in stages between 25 February 2003 and June of the same year.
A truly magnificent example of Vickers Edwards architecture, it is arguably the finest example of the "broad arrow" layout of asylum design.
The administration building, which is Grade II listed, is now considered something of a show piece at the former hospital, which is situated on a 300-acre (1.2 km2) site at the foot of Rombalds Moor.
It features an Italian mosaic floor in the main corridor which is intricately decorated with the Yorkshire Rose and black daisies - the latter of which provided inspiration for the title of a television screenplay, filmed at High Royds, as a tribute to sufferers of Alzheimers disease.
The hospital once contained a library, a surgery, a dispensary, butcher's, dairies, baker's, a sweetshop, an upholster's, a cobbler's, spacious grounds, a ballroom and even a railway. The patients lived in Nightingale wards (named after Florence Nightingale), rather than the individual accommodation found in more recent mental health units. The hospital was formerly connected to the Wharfedale railway line by its own small railway system, the High Royds Hospital Railway.[1]
In its final years of operation, High Royds had been become outdated and unsuited to modern psychiatric practice. As part of Leeds Mental Health's £47 million reprovision process it was closed, with the wards being relocated to various community mental health units within the city of Leeds in the three years leading up to its closure. These include the Becklin Centre in St James' Hospital and the Mount in the city centre.
There are now plans to convert the site into a new village, also called High Royds, retaining some features of the hospital, such as the ballroom and the clock tower.

On with the pics!

http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x405/TheBadBatz/West%20Pauper%20Lunatic%20Asylum%20aka%20Highroyds/30.jpg
Team shot that got us 'caught' LOL!

http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x405/TheBadBatz/West%20Pauper%20Lunatic%20Asylum%20aka%20Highroyds/27.jpg
Andy in the odd room.

http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x405/TheBadBatz/West%20Pauper%20Lunatic%20Asylum%20aka%20Highroyds/15.jpg
Under the stage (playing with external flash fired off camera)

http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x405/TheBadBatz/West%20Pauper%20Lunatic%20Asylum%20aka%20Highroyds/8.jpg
Corridor

http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x405/TheBadBatz/West%20Pauper%20Lunatic%20Asylum%20aka%20Highroyds/4.jpg
Bit late really!

http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x405/TheBadBatz/West%20Pauper%20Lunatic%20Asylum%20aka%20Highroyds/9.jpg
Fireplace in main hall.

http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x405/TheBadBatz/West%20Pauper%20Lunatic%20Asylum%20aka%20Highroyds/23.jpg
More corridor.


Thanks for looking folks, pics came out crap but the day was cool!:cry

Rochester
08-04-2012, 01:45 PM
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff74/silverstealth_bucket/ballroomhighroydsseptember2007sm.jpg

September 2007