History of Birkwood Asylum

Birkwood Asylum dates from the 1860’s and closed in 2002. The most attractive of the buildings and the feature of this report is the old Birkwood House which was constructed in 1819 and was a stately home until the 1860’s when an additional wing was added and the Asylum established. Many additional buildings were added over the years within the grounds which are all now crumbling and falling apart while the old stone built stately home remains!

Supposedly haunted by some doctor who was killed by a patient in one of the pink coloured wards upstairs the site has become a frequently visited location for ‘ghost hunters’ infact we saw some on our first trip here but thankfully this time we had the place to ourselves.

Update: On Tuesday 21st July 2015 the largest tower which also featured the spiral staircase suffered a significant collapse bringing a large portion of the rest of the building with it. It is thought to have been caused by long term water damage which weakened the fabric of the building. Neighbours ar reported to have heard a loud bang which sounded like an explosion as ton of stone came crashing down. The site has further been fenced off for safety reasons and it is unknown at this stage what impact this will have on the proposed development plans.

Our Visit

Visited with Baron Scotland and Lowri, we mainly just went for the spiral staircase but I snapped a few other shots before we moved on to the next location. Currently developers are working on the building as part of a £50 million renovation and I believe some new contractor lighting has been installed on the staircase. Anyways on with the photos!

My second trip to the abandoned Birkwood Asylum in Scotland, this time with more success than the first! Last time we managed to get a few late night long exposure externals which came out pretty nice, however, we were disturbed by security and asked to leave and so were unable to see the inside. This time luck was on our side and I finally got to see the spiral staircase at this place :). Plenty of character inside to complement the beautiful exterior, I’m glad we came back! We spent about 20 minutes hiding on the roof of the tower after thinking we had spotted security… in hindsight, it was probably other explorers but better to be safe than sorry. Great second spot for a nice weekend break in Scotland! Good times!

: Birkwood Asylum External

: Birkwood Asylum External

: Birkwood Asylum Corridor

: Birkwood Asylum

: Birkwood Asylum

: Birkwood Asylum

: Birkwood Asylum

: Birkwood Asylum

: Birkwood Asylum Corridor

: Birkwood Asylum

: Birkwood Asylum

: Birkwood Asylum

: Birkwood Asylum Bay Window

: Birkwood Asylum Corridor

: Birkwood Asylum

: Birkwood Asylum Spiral Staircase

: Birkwood Asylum Spiral Staircase

: Birkwood Asylum Spiral Staircase

Birkwood Asylum First visit January 2014

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