History

High Royds Lunatic Asylum or the West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum as it was originally called, is a former psychiatric hospital near the village of Menston in West Yorkshire.

The broad arrow plan asylum features a large array of stone built wards and interconnecting corridors most of which have been demolished leaving the majority of the old wards as independent buildings most now repurposed as modern apartments.

The grandest of these buildings, the old administration block which sits at the head of the complex is Grade II listed and is one of the last remaining buildings to be renovated. This building features a large central clock tower which still functions to this day and the main hallways are covered with Italian Mosaic flooring which is intricately decorated with the Yorkshire Rose and black daisies.

The Asylum opened on the 8th October 1888 and was in full use until a staged closer which began in 2003 following changes to the attitudes towards mental health care in the United Kingdom.

Our Visit

Visited with Spider Monkey, Matt Hampshire and Pete ‘Hands’ Costello on another successful SOCC outing :). I’d wanted to see this place for years and after numerous failed attempts in the past, I had to take a look once it was back on the scene again. Clearly, a lot more of the site has been renovated with only 1 or 2 old wards remaining along with the admin block which are all earmarked for conversion into apartments. Thankfully the Administration Building, the main target of our visit still had plenty of original features left to photograph and I wasn’t disappointed with what there was to shoot. Fortunately, the main hall also remained and was accessible via the administration building as well as a few other corridors and kitchen / canteen rooms. Even though I would have loved to have seen this place it its prime I’m glad I managed to finally get to see a little part of it…

If you’ve made it this far… thanks for reading / checking out the pictures. Leave me a comment below or hit the like button to let me know you’ve enjoyed the shots and to encourage me to keep posting more 🙂

Enjoyed this report? don’t forget to check out the report from Behind Closed Doors: High Royds Asylum

Limited Edition prints and Canvases, as well as regular prints, are available for all of the images above on request and visit the store for more prints and products.

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Related posts:

Urbex: High Royds Insane Asylum aka High Royds Hospital aka West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum, Menston, Leeds, West Yorkshire – March 2015 (Revisit) Urbex: The Lincolnshire County Pauper Lunatic Asylum – November 2013 (revisit 2) Urbex: St Georges Asylum aka Northumberland County Pauper Lunatic Asylum aka Ivy Hospital, Morpeth – October 2013 Urbex: The Lincolnshire County Pauper Lunatic Asylum – February 2014 (revisit 3) Urbex: Cookridge Hospital, Leeds, West Yorkshire – February 2014 (Revisit) Urbex: Leeds Girls High School aka St Matthew’s Hospital, Leeds – January 2015 Urbex: The Lincolnshire County Pauper Lunatic Asylum – May 2013 (revisit) Part 1 Urbex: Leeds Girls High School (Rose Court Nursery), Leeds – January 2015 Urbex: The Lincolnshire County Pauper Lunatic Asylum – May 2013 (revisit) Part 2 Urbex: Bangour Village Hospital aka Edinburgh District Asylum, Scotland – February 2015