Harperbury Hospital Jan 2016

[mookster]

I know what you are thinking - Oh not another Harperbury post showing the same utterly ruined shells of buildings - but you'd be wrong. For there is a whole lot more left here than I think most people realise. The wards and therapy buildings that closed in 2001 are absolutely ruined but various other areas have been slowly but surely abandoned leaving many of the buildings that once formed the middle of the asylum now empty. The western half of the site, which included the padded cells and the hydrotherapy pool has been demolished to make way for a new hospital building but there is still a surprising amount left to see. Sadly the main hall was locked up but the other parts we saw more than made up for it - the personal highlight for me being the multi-storey model hospital located in the old main stores building. We also literally walked into the worlds most apathetic security guard, who kind of grunted at us and just wandered off...weird.​

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In 1924 Middlesex County Council purchased the Porters Park estate, comprising a total area of 420 acres, upon which the aerodrome had been built. The area would eventually become the site of both Harperbury and Shenley hospitals

The first patients were 8 adult males detained under The Mental Deficiency Act 1913. When the construction of new buildings began in 1929, these patients were involved in basic labouring.

The first of the new buildings were opened in February 1931 and by December housed 342 patients. The site continued to expand - with the addition of female and childrens units - until 1936. After this expansion, the hospital was officially opened by Sir Kingsley Wood - the health minister at the time - in May 1936 and by 1939 the site had 1,194 patients.

In 1948 the hospital became part of the NHS and was renamed Harperbury Hospital in 1950. By 1964 overcrowding had become a major problem - accommodation designed for 1,354 patients was housing 1,587.

During the 1970's the hospital became less institutionalised and in 1974 patients started to be discharged back into the community.

In 1986 the hospital was put under central management, being linked with Leavesden and Cell Barnes Hospitals.

It was eventually announced during the 1990's that the three hospitals would be subjected to phased closures, with patients initially being transferred to Harperbury from the other two hospitals. Harperbury was the last to close, officially shutting up shop in 2001.

However, parts of the site remained live - new bungalows to house 80-90 residents with learning difficulties were built in 2008, and two medium secure mental health units were added in 2009. The site was renamed Kingsley Green in July 2011, after Sir Kingsley Wood

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The ruined parts are absolutely ruined, and the mint parts are absolutely mint. It's a very strange mixture of total utter decay and buildings which are as fresh as they come complete with running water.​

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Thanks for looking, more photos can be found on my flickr ​

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[PROJ3CTM4YH3M]

Nicely done mate, never made my way down to see this one... looks like theres still some life left in the old girl

 

[hamtagger]

That model of the hospital is ace! Good to see theres some good stuff left here, seems to be a mix of total derp-hole and pretty nice!

 

[DirtyJigsaw]

Nicely done. yeah, loads more to see than everyone realized, including myself

 

[Merryprankster]

that model hospital is so cool! nicely done dude, as HT said seems quite varied in the levels of decay, looks like a nice liitle mooch, thanks for sharing bud 

 

[Urbexbandoned]

That's cool! I visited here last year, it was pretty much sealed then with an old guy bambering about as secca not to mention the presence of police dog trainers complete with dogs on the green. Always knew there was a little bit more here it was just waiting for it to open. Nice to see something as cool as the model hospital. I tagged @Session9 when I saw that in Facebook the other day. Did you go to Napsbury too? Very trashed and ruined now but it was nice to see what they had done with the development on the way through. 

 

[mookster]

That's cool! I visited here last year, it was pretty much sealed then with an old guy bambering about as secca not to mention the presence of police dog trainers complete with dogs on the green. Always knew there was a little bit more here it was just waiting for it to open. Nice to see something as cool as the model hospital. I tagged @Session9 when I saw that in Facebook the other day. Did you go to Napsbury too? Very trashed and ruined now but it was nice to see what they had done with the development on the way through. 

The old secca guy was the one we bumped into and he must have spotted us about five times during the five hours we were on site and he never did a thing! We actually approached him afterwards and asked if he could unlock the hall for us but he said no, was worth a shot as he obviously knew we were taking photos haha. Speaking of dog training, we were finishing up in the last building next to the green when one of our group came sprinting towards us saying he'd heard something outside so we left and spotted a guy walking across the green not too far away from us with an Alsatian. On the way out we saw the dog unit van parked by the gate so put two and two together haha.

 

[Urbexbandoned]

Good timing mate, the old guy was very slow on his feet. Strange example of security. Shame about the hall but worth a try