The Crumpsall Workhouse:
History compiled from: (http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Manchester/)
The Crumpsall workhouse was built was constructed between 1855-57. Designed by Mills and Murgatroyd, the site could accommodate 1660 "inmates", compromising of; 745 able-bodied men and women; 152 women including 76 infants; 248 idiots, imbeciles and epileptics; 255 children under 16; 60 probationers; 200 sick. The very first inmates lived at Crumpsall in 1857. They were able-bodied men who could work on the farm at the site. Between 1909-1920, new blocks used for accommodation were erected to house new inmates and provide more for the "imbeciles". These blocks were the blocks we explored on our visit. They can be seen below to the bottom right of the chimney.
During 1866, the Poor Law Board visited Crumpsall and the inspector stated that it was "the most complete as well as one of the best managed work-houses that I had ever inspected. It is in thoroughly excellent ordfer throughout, and generally in such a state as to reflect the highest credit on all concerned in its management and care." Whether this remained the case throughout the years it operated before being renamed the Crescent Road Institution in 1915, the Crumpsall Institute in 1930. 1930 was the year that all workhouses were abolished, meaning Crumpsall came under management of the Manchester Public Assistance Comittee. It was also around this time that the site officially started to treat the mentally ill despite the "lunatic inmates" they housed prior. Park House was the next name for the site in 1939 and later being called Springfield hospital introduced to the NHS in 1948 is unknown.
Below are some old photographs of the site:
An aerial view of the site in the 1920s.
A final overview of the site demonstrated by a model
The Explore:
This was our first explore back since the pandemic began and it felt good to get back out. @UrbandonedTeam joined us 2 metres apart after letting us know about the site. It was a relaxed explore and enough to spend a couple of hours photographing a videoing. Despite being close to many high traffic active buildings the site was easy enough to infiltrate but this could have been of the weekday evening explore. With none of us knowing a lot about the history of Crumpsall prior to the explore, it was interesting to make judgements of the use of the building we explored based off of what we found inside, from architecture to items and documents left. As previously mentioned, it turns out the narrow L shaped section we explored was a residential part of the site added in the early 1900s to house more inmates and "imbecilies". Inside there were still many classic asylum features to see too. Overall it was a great way to kick off returning to explore. Hope you like the photos
We started by entering onto a dull, narrow corridor.
The main entrance for the residential block.
A room full of old floor polishers and other items and documents.
We then entered a workshop style room with tool racks left.
Not many of the rooms off of the narrow corridors had much to see but one caught our attention. This tiled bathroom with a draping curtains and a minty green bath-tub was nice to see.
Now onto the top floor corridor
At the end of this corridor we reached an adjacent staircase and headed down a level to continue working our way through the building in search for more points of interest.
The peeling paint and natural sunlight creeping in made for some photogenic shots.
We were then lead out onto the landing of the classic caged staircase along with a neat office space and child-like wall decoration. These were more likely added in the latter years of the the buildings life when it was being used by the NHS.
The room ahead lead us into a little setup of metal chairs and a wheelchair looking out onto a classic asylum like caged fire-exit balcony, completely overgrown by ivy.
Since we had entered a different section of the building, we searched across the other side to find yet another cool staircase with wall decor.
However, all this time we had been journeying through the complex to reach the main hall we had been eyeing up from the outside.
Feel free to watch through our video take on the site as well, adding a different perspective of our explore.
Thanks for reading!
History compiled from: (http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Manchester/)
The Crumpsall workhouse was built was constructed between 1855-57. Designed by Mills and Murgatroyd, the site could accommodate 1660 "inmates", compromising of; 745 able-bodied men and women; 152 women including 76 infants; 248 idiots, imbeciles and epileptics; 255 children under 16; 60 probationers; 200 sick. The very first inmates lived at Crumpsall in 1857. They were able-bodied men who could work on the farm at the site. Between 1909-1920, new blocks used for accommodation were erected to house new inmates and provide more for the "imbeciles". These blocks were the blocks we explored on our visit. They can be seen below to the bottom right of the chimney.
During 1866, the Poor Law Board visited Crumpsall and the inspector stated that it was "the most complete as well as one of the best managed work-houses that I had ever inspected. It is in thoroughly excellent ordfer throughout, and generally in such a state as to reflect the highest credit on all concerned in its management and care." Whether this remained the case throughout the years it operated before being renamed the Crescent Road Institution in 1915, the Crumpsall Institute in 1930. 1930 was the year that all workhouses were abolished, meaning Crumpsall came under management of the Manchester Public Assistance Comittee. It was also around this time that the site officially started to treat the mentally ill despite the "lunatic inmates" they housed prior. Park House was the next name for the site in 1939 and later being called Springfield hospital introduced to the NHS in 1948 is unknown.
Below are some old photographs of the site:
An aerial view of the site in the 1920s.
A final overview of the site demonstrated by a model
The Explore:
This was our first explore back since the pandemic began and it felt good to get back out. @UrbandonedTeam joined us 2 metres apart after letting us know about the site. It was a relaxed explore and enough to spend a couple of hours photographing a videoing. Despite being close to many high traffic active buildings the site was easy enough to infiltrate but this could have been of the weekday evening explore. With none of us knowing a lot about the history of Crumpsall prior to the explore, it was interesting to make judgements of the use of the building we explored based off of what we found inside, from architecture to items and documents left. As previously mentioned, it turns out the narrow L shaped section we explored was a residential part of the site added in the early 1900s to house more inmates and "imbecilies". Inside there were still many classic asylum features to see too. Overall it was a great way to kick off returning to explore. Hope you like the photos
We started by entering onto a dull, narrow corridor.
The main entrance for the residential block.
A room full of old floor polishers and other items and documents.
We then entered a workshop style room with tool racks left.
Not many of the rooms off of the narrow corridors had much to see but one caught our attention. This tiled bathroom with a draping curtains and a minty green bath-tub was nice to see.
Now onto the top floor corridor
At the end of this corridor we reached an adjacent staircase and headed down a level to continue working our way through the building in search for more points of interest.
The peeling paint and natural sunlight creeping in made for some photogenic shots.
We were then lead out onto the landing of the classic caged staircase along with a neat office space and child-like wall decoration. These were more likely added in the latter years of the the buildings life when it was being used by the NHS.
The room ahead lead us into a little setup of metal chairs and a wheelchair looking out onto a classic asylum like caged fire-exit balcony, completely overgrown by ivy.
Since we had entered a different section of the building, we searched across the other side to find yet another cool staircase with wall decor.
However, all this time we had been journeying through the complex to reach the main hall we had been eyeing up from the outside.
Feel free to watch through our video take on the site as well, adding a different perspective of our explore.
Thanks for reading!
