St Johns Asylum, Lincoln - Aug 09

[Bobby_Gold]

Ok well this is my first report on here, been inactive recently due to other commitments.

I’ve never been here before and have been wanting to go for ages and due to other commitments have never got around to it.

Ricklus (Lincoln Explorer) had said he’d take me in and show me around, so we meet up at the John Bull carpark at 4.45am (bit early for my liking, especially on a Sunday morning) and took it from there. So I prepared in advance and got 2 hours sleep

It was well worth getting up early though, as the sunrise and the morning sun made for good lighting, and add a bit of atmosphere to the place.

We only had 2 and a half hours so I didn’t get round the whole building, so just went around to see the main parts. I will make a return visit at some point to go underneath and in into the tunnels.
Some of the bits I’ve forgotten where they were - I was being told as we went around, but being so tired I had forgot by the time I got home.

A couple of photos are HDR, but just because in a couple of shots either the highlights were completely washed out, or the shadows we too dark - there was no middle ground.


History

The Asylum was built in 1852 on a slight rise in Bracebridge parish, on the high road to Sleaford. Originally built to house 250 inmates, it was enlarged in 1859, 1866, 1881 and 1902. The asylum grounds covered 120 acres.

The Asylum grounds were cultivated by the inmates to provide vegetables.
The Asylum's sewage was disposed of by irrigation over 10 acres of land about a half mile from the asylum.
The Asylum had a cemetery of one and half acres on the grounds, with its own mortuary chapel.
In some records, the inmates are referred to as "visitors".

The Asylum closed in 1990 and was sold a few years later to a property developer who constructed nearly 1,000 new houses in the village. The original hospital buildings themselves are classified as Grade III listed buildings and are protected from demolition. During the redevelopment of the hospital site, a number of these protected buildings were refurbished and converted into flats and offices.

Name changes:

1852-1893 Lincolnshire County Lunatic Asylum or Lincolnshire County Pauper Lunatic Asylum
1894-1915 Lincolnshire Lunatic Asylum
1897-1898 Lindsey, Holland, Lincoln and Grimsby District Pauper Lunatic Asylum
1903-1920 Lincolnshire Asylum
1898-1902 Bracebridge Pauper Lunatic Asylum
1902-1919 Bracebridge District Lunatic Asylum
1919-1948 Bracebridge Mental Hospital
1930-1938 Lincolnshire Mental Hospital
1939-1960 Bracebridge Heath Hospital
1961-1989 St John's Hospital, Bracebridge Heath


Anyway onto the photos, (slightly pic heavy)

Sunrise over St. Johns, A silhouette of the water tower



Walking the corridors of St. Johns, Another silhouette



Exterior





Inside














Wards





Childrens Ward







Lincoln Walkway & Theatre





Some of the only intact toilets



A couple of window views

St. Johns with Lincoln Cathedral in the distance



Water Tower



Wild mushrooms growing from the wall



HDR Images









Thanks for looking