Villa Sbertolli - Main Hall

Urbex: Villa Sbertolli, an Italian Asylum, Italy – April 2015

Villa Sbertolli is an abandoned Asylum complex in Italy and comprises of several buildings arranged along a winding road. The whole place has been derelict for quite some time and some of the buildings are completely bricked up. We were however lucky enough to find a way into this amazing Villa building which I understand was once a private residence but later incorporated within the new use of the site as it became an Asylum catering for the insane…

High Royds Insane Asylum - Adminstration Building Exterior

Urbex: High Royds Insane Asylum aka High Royds Hospital aka West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum, Menston, Leeds, West Yorkshire – March 2015 (Revisit)

Briefly the abandoned High Royds Asylum opened in 1888 and closed in 2003 since then the site has been undergoing development into luxury apartments most of which are now complete. The main admin building still remains empty boasting some of its original features…

High Royds Insane Asylum aka West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum

Urbex: High Royds Insane Asylum aka High Royds Hospital aka West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum, Menston, Leeds, West Yorkshire – February 2015

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…

Bangour Village Hospital - Building 15 The Recreation Hall

Urbex: Bangour Village Hospital aka Edinburgh District Asylum, Scotland – February 2015

The now derelict Bangour Village Hospital is a large Psychiatric Hospital complex which first opened in 1906 as The Edinburgh District Asylum. The Asylum which was modelled on a German village-plan design similar to that of the Alt-Scherbitz asylum of the 1870s. In 1918 when the Asylum has around 3000 patients it was renamed as Bangour Village Hospital and operated under this name until its closure in 2004…

Leeds Girls High School aka St Matthew's Hospital

Urbex: Leeds Girls High School aka St Matthew’s Hospital, Leeds – January 2015

Founded in 1876 The now abandoned Leeds Girls High School is situated in Headingley Leeds and was originally built to cater for girls aged between 3-18 years old. Established at a time when female education was on the rise, the school was an independent, selective fee-based school aiming to offer a similar all-round education of the boys tradition, academic grammar schools. Split into three sections based upon age groups this report features the Senior School which housed the 11 to 18 year old pupils. In 2004 only four years before closure of the site, Leeds Girls High School or LGHS was he highest performing school in the Leeds area in terms of GCSE’s and A Levels.

A German Psychiatric Hospital - Wheelchair

Urbex: A German Psychiatric Hospital aka Psychiatrie V, Germany – November 2014

Very little information about this place. After more than a couple of fails and bails Bram thankfully saved our asses and pulled through with this location. A building within a large complex of other buildings some of which were live forming a big psychiatric hospital. The Building we explored was quite a modern addition to the site and this was both clear internally and externally…

Selly Oak Hospital Morgue

Urbex: Selly Oak Hospital Morgue – November 2014

The first building on the site of Selly Oak Hospital was the old King’s Norton Union Workhouse which was built in around 1872 to consolidate existing services for 5 separate parishes. Originally the Hospital was built to accommodate 200 pauper inmates. In 1897 a separate infirmary opened at the site at a cost of £52,000 and was designed by Mr. Daniel Arkell. This infirmary was made to accommodate a further 250 patients and had basic facilities to cater for maternity care but there were no operating theatres or a mortuary at this point…