History:
Briefly, the abandoned St Joseph’s College, Upholland is a former Roman Catholic seminary, situated at Walthew Park, Upholland, Lancashire, England. The foundation of the large building were laid in April 1880 and college was opened in 1883. The buildings have recently been deconsecrated following the announced closure of the College which saw the last students leave in 1992.
The seminary was founded in 1880 by Bishop Bernard O’Reilly to be the Seminary serving the North West of England. The college was formally opened in 1883 and was situated in Walthew Park, Upholland, the geographic centre of the Diocese of Liverpool.
In 1986 the total number of students was down to 82, of whom only 54 were Church students, and it was no longer viable to educate them on the premises. From 1987 the remaining students attended St. John Rigby College in nearby Orrell for their schooling, an arrangement that continued until the very last of these students left Upholland in 1992.
Explore:
I visited here with loocyloo (shout to her for letting me crash at hers and being the designated driver), redhunter, whynotdiex, and a couple of non-members. we arrived here pretty early and under dakrness made our entry. Now, we had a little bit of time to kill, so what better way that to do it with a fry up on the roof? Nothing kicks off a day of exploring better than a bacon buttie!
Soon enough the sun was up and we were off to take some pictures! Bumped into about 8 other explorers here - unfortunately I'm not sure if any are members
We had a real laugh, and no doubt this was topped off with a brilliant security encounter. We were on the roof shooting and heard a car arrive, and in record time a head popped up from the access hatch - "youre not supposed to be here" he muttered, and after a brief moment we said we'd leave. We packed up out gear and descended the ladder only to find he'd wondered off, so we took that as an opportunity to spend another hour inside shooting! Definitely one of my top explores, in a beautiful location with some top company!
I was told the sinks were sealed, but coming all this way I had to go and check for myself. An awkward climb through a smashed window led into the courtyard, and I thought I'd go check it out before dragging all my gear out there. Realising they were sealed i now had the job of getting back through this smashed window, and with glass left in the frame it made it awkward. I opted for a heard-first approach and hoped for the best. Lucky, loocyloo was on hand to document the whole situation on my camera. It's safe to say she got a bit snap happy, as 2 minutes later I had over 40 pictures of me attempting to get through a window! :lol:
To finish off, a group shot in the courtyard!
As always, thanks for reading!
Briefly, the abandoned St Joseph’s College, Upholland is a former Roman Catholic seminary, situated at Walthew Park, Upholland, Lancashire, England. The foundation of the large building were laid in April 1880 and college was opened in 1883. The buildings have recently been deconsecrated following the announced closure of the College which saw the last students leave in 1992.
The seminary was founded in 1880 by Bishop Bernard O’Reilly to be the Seminary serving the North West of England. The college was formally opened in 1883 and was situated in Walthew Park, Upholland, the geographic centre of the Diocese of Liverpool.
In 1986 the total number of students was down to 82, of whom only 54 were Church students, and it was no longer viable to educate them on the premises. From 1987 the remaining students attended St. John Rigby College in nearby Orrell for their schooling, an arrangement that continued until the very last of these students left Upholland in 1992.
Explore:
I visited here with loocyloo (shout to her for letting me crash at hers and being the designated driver), redhunter, whynotdiex, and a couple of non-members. we arrived here pretty early and under dakrness made our entry. Now, we had a little bit of time to kill, so what better way that to do it with a fry up on the roof? Nothing kicks off a day of exploring better than a bacon buttie!
Soon enough the sun was up and we were off to take some pictures! Bumped into about 8 other explorers here - unfortunately I'm not sure if any are members
We had a real laugh, and no doubt this was topped off with a brilliant security encounter. We were on the roof shooting and heard a car arrive, and in record time a head popped up from the access hatch - "youre not supposed to be here" he muttered, and after a brief moment we said we'd leave. We packed up out gear and descended the ladder only to find he'd wondered off, so we took that as an opportunity to spend another hour inside shooting! Definitely one of my top explores, in a beautiful location with some top company!
I was told the sinks were sealed, but coming all this way I had to go and check for myself. An awkward climb through a smashed window led into the courtyard, and I thought I'd go check it out before dragging all my gear out there. Realising they were sealed i now had the job of getting back through this smashed window, and with glass left in the frame it made it awkward. I opted for a heard-first approach and hoped for the best. Lucky, loocyloo was on hand to document the whole situation on my camera. It's safe to say she got a bit snap happy, as 2 minutes later I had over 40 pictures of me attempting to get through a window! :lol:
To finish off, a group shot in the courtyard!
As always, thanks for reading!
