# Denbigh Mental Hospital - January 2017



## Priority 7 (Jan 5, 2017)

Denbigh was fraught with issues even before it was built. Despite a group foreseeing the outcome of the 1844 Lunatic Act and indeed a generous donation of 20 acres of land by Joseph Ablett the finances to build the hospital proved harder to come by. Due mainly to the fact that only one asylum could exist in North Wales many of the surrounding counties did not want to fund the project. As a result of this funds were raise through a series of public subscriptions, including donation from Queen Victoria and other Royals.

Building commenced on the Hospital in 1844. Working to plans provided by Mr Fulljames with guidance from his friend, Dr S. Hitch. Local limestone bricks, produced by the Graig Quarry near Denbigh, were used in its construction and upon its completion in 1848 it was regarded as the finest structure of its type. The clock tower

Several extensions were added to the original hospital the largest was in 1899. This allowed the Hospital to house 1500 patients at its peak and offer a wide range of treatments. The hospital finally closed its doors in 1995 and has been falling apart ever since, a fire claimed its main hall and vandalism can be seen all around the site. It is, much like Talgarth a shell of its former self. The new roof to the main building has, at the very least, prevented the awe inspiring façade from collapsing like the rest of the site and the builders have removed all the floors in the building.

I am pretty sure I saw Elwyn drive past us just prior to us starting our walk to the site, however we had absolutely no run ins or issues whilst there.






















Thanks for looking


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## SS_EXplorer (Jan 5, 2017)

Such a lovely looking building, thankyou for sharing! 

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## HughieD (Jan 6, 2017)

Short and sweet!


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## joe roberts (Jan 6, 2017)

It's a shame how it's been vandalised I was talking to elwyn when we were there xmas and he's not a bad bloke. He's the way he is because he got attacked there by a gang of young lads and had his jaw broke and half of his teeth knocked out.

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## mardum (Jan 6, 2017)

Really nice.
Hope I'll visit there soon.


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## krela (Jan 6, 2017)

joe roberts said:


> He's the way he is because he got attacked there by a gang of young lads and had his jaw broke and half of his teeth knocked out.



Yeaaaaaah that's not exactly the whole story.


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## mookster (Jan 6, 2017)

joe roberts said:


> It's a shame how it's been vandalised I was talking to elwyn when we were there xmas and he's not a bad bloke. He's the way he is because he got attacked there by a gang of young lads and had his jaw broke and half of his teeth knocked out.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk



He's been a nutter for years, long before he got jumped. After some of the stunts he's pulled, setting dogs onto people (personal witness), chasing them, grabbing for cameras etc it was sadly only a matter of time before someone had a pop at him.

He used to work as a caretaker on the site when it was open and he has an unhealthy attachment to the place....


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## HughieD (Jan 6, 2017)

Didn't see Elwyn when I visited last month. I'm sure he had good intentions at heart but it got a bit lost in translation.


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## joe roberts (Jan 7, 2017)

Must be because we are local. He was nice to us.

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## krela (Jan 7, 2017)

joe roberts said:


> Must be because we are local. He was nice to us.



No, nothing to do with that either, and everything to do with him being told in no uncertain terms by the police that he would be going to prison if he continued the way he was going. There are a number of people who could have pursued assault charges against him, and it was getting to the point where the CPS may well have done so themselves in the public interest, as the police were getting fed up with attending and finding it was him causing the problem. 

Regardless of his intentions, repeatedly trying to destroy people's camera equipment, threatening physical violence, shouting and screaming, and setting your aggressive dog on people on public property (most altercations happened on the roads around the site) unprovoked, is not acceptable in anyone's eyes, least of all the laws, and it was happening on a weekly if not daily basis.

That's not to say some people didn't treat him badly or antagonise him, a few did, but he's hardly the innocent injured party. He's not the owner of the site and he's not their agent, so he has no authority over the place or anyone who goes there, and what he was doing was seriously out of order.


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## The Wombat (Jan 7, 2017)

Good set there.
Would like to visit some day


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## UEP-Wales (Jan 7, 2017)

Great shots there mate and it was a great day out, even if we did almost miss McDonald's!


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## stinkywitch (Apr 25, 2017)

joe roberts said:


> It's a shame how it's been vandalised I was talking to elwyn when we were there xmas and he's not a bad bloke. He's the way he is because he got attacked there by a gang of young lads and had his jaw broke and half of his teeth knocked out.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk



That's horrific! When we visited a couple of years back we didn't come face to face, but we heard him driving around the buildings. Obviously been tipped off that we were there.


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