Whittingham Lunatic Asylum Grounds

The History

The now abandoned Whittingham Insane Asylum and Hospital, whose grounds adjoin the village of Goosnargh, grew to be the largest mental hospital in the country, and pioneered the use of electroencephalograms (EEGs). During its time it had its own church, farms, railway, telephone exchange, post office, reservoirs, gas works, brewery, orchestra, brass band, ballroom and butchers.

In 1866, the three Lancashire lunatic asylums at Prestwich, Rainhill and Lancaster were deemed to be full. The building of Whittingham Asylum began in 1869, originally to accommodate 1000 patients. It was built from brick made from clay dug on site from a pit which later became a fish pond.

The hospital officially opened on 1 April 1873. The large site included an Anglican church, a Catholic chapel, a recreation hall (also used as a ballroom) and several farms.

The Whittingham Hospital Railway was a two-mile private branch to Grimsargh, built in 1887, to provide coal and other goods. It also provided free transport for staff and passengers. It eventually closed in on 30 June 1957.

In the early years there was a brewery on the site. At the end of the first World War, a part of the hospital (later known as “St Margaret’s Division”) was used as a military hospital. It was again used for this purpose during the second World War.

By 1923, the hospital was known as “Whittingham Mental Hospital”. By 1939, the number of patients was 3533, with a staff of 548, making it the largest mental hospital in the country.

By 1948, it had incorporated Ribchester Hospital, and became known as “Whittingham Hospital”.

The Mental Health Act of 1960 deemed large institutions like Whittingham to be out of favour. Allegations of cruelty to patients led to a public inquiry.

During the 1970s and 1980s, new drugs and therapies were introduced. Long-stay patients were returned to the community or dispersed to smaller units around Preston. The hospital eventually closed in 1995.

The site subsequently became known as “Guild Park”. In 1999, Guild Lodge was opened on the edge of Guild Park, supplying secure mental services, followed the next year by rehabilitation cottages close by.

It is planned to build 650 new homes on the site and to preserve some of the hospital buildings as apartments.

Our Visit

After an abandoned visit somewhere else which for the moment will remain nameless as I am determined to revisit, we proceeded to head up to the old ‘Wonky Asylum’ Whittingham Hospital. I’d been here previously in 2010 (See this blog post) and I managed to get a few shots in some of the outer buildings a boiler house and a couple of cool rooms which still had beds and wheel chairs but we didn’t proceed much further that day and it was to be 2 years before I got the chance to revisit this monster of a site. Joined by Ryan and Craig we were startled on approach by a couple of fellow explorers initially mistaking them for security but then realising they weren’t we said hello and headed in as they moved on (nice seeing you guys if you are reading this). Its was a decent explore we spent a good 6 hours or so and I’d say we covered around 70% of the site. There’s no denying this place is really suffering from the elements, and whilst is doesn’t have some of grand external features of some of the other asylums like Denbigh and St John, its a huge site and there’s still a fair bit to see. Some of the highlights for me would have to be the projection / cutting room tucked away behind the great hall which is in probably the best condition of all the buildings and is one of the largest that I’ve had the pleasure of exploring. I got plenty of shots of them both which will be in Part 2 of this report. Yes that’s right I’ve had to split this one in 2 due to the sheer amount of photos owing to the lengthy visit. The chapel and Mortuary rooms were also interesting to see and the bay window garden on one of the third floors captured below! that was a sight. Time for the first lot of photos. Leave me a comment if you enjoyed the post! They make me happy 🙂

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – Watch your step in the corridors…

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – Bed pan still survives!

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – Through the looking glass

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – Bay Window

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – Ladies and Gents

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – Watch your step in the corridors…

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – No Entrance? No Exit!

Cell Featuring double locks and a mirror mounted in the top corner of the room

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – Corridor

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – Take a seat…

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – Im Watching

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – Corridor

Always waiting, looking out the window, hoping you’ll come…

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – Do Not Enter

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – Corridors

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – Corridor

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – Time stops for no man

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – Corridor

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – The XX

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – Corridor

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – Dorms

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – Bay window garden

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – Looking down on the Asylum

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – Hang your coat here

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – Ghosts tea party

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – No Stairs No Problem

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – HELP

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – No Exit

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – Not the ritz

Part 2 of this report can be found here.

Enjoyed this report? want to see more of this place? I’ve been back for a few more visits and taken hundreds more photos in these reports:

Whittingham Lunatic Asylum – Near Preston – March 2010

Whittingham Insane Asylum, Goosnargh, Lancashire – revisit 1 September 2012 Part 1 (This report)

Whittingham Insane Asylum, Goosnargh, Lancashire – revisit 1 September 2012 Part 2

Whittingham Asylum, Goosnargh, Lancashire – revisit 2 January 2013

Whittingham Asylum, Goosnargh, Lancashire – revisit 3 October 2013

Whittingham Asylum, Goosnargh, Lancashire – revisit 4 October 2013

Whittingham Asylum, Goosnargh, Lancashire – revisit 5 December 2013

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