# Cambridge Military Hospital, Aldershot - October 09



## mookster (Oct 28, 2009)

After an early disappointment at Pyestock me, Allstar plus two other friends headed down to Cambridge Military Hospital, a hospital that seems to have largely fallen under the radar, probably because of it's location making it a difficult one to get round without being caught. We had no intention of going round the interior as we didn't have the proper kit, all we wanted was some photos of the fantastic admin block, easily the most impressive derelict building I've seen, possibly the finest admin block in the country. We had heard that the security folk occasionally let people take photos of the exterior, and after a bit of a chat and a phonecall to the MOD we were allowed to take as many as we liked around the main hospital building.

It closed in 1996 after asbestos and other faults were found throughout. For some reason,despite the totally different layout it reminded me of Cane Hill

Seeing as this is a seldom-covered location here is some history:



> The Cambridge Hospital was built by Messrs Martin Wells and Co. of Aldershot at a cost of £45,758, and was opened for the admission of patients on Friday 18th July 1879. The hospital was named after HRH The Duke of Cambridge (1819 - 1904) who was the only son of the seventh son of HM George III. He was made a Field Marshall in 1862, and was Commander-in-Chief of the Army from 1856-1895.
> 
> The hospital was originally designed as a series of individual "regimental hospitals" joined by a connecting corridor, with each self-contained to reduce the risk of cross infection. But this system had been discontinued in 1873 before the hospital opened and so it was always run as a single establishment. The architect "proposed that the bricks of the arched roof of the wards shall be perforated, and in connection with flues, through which outlets the heated or ventilated air of the wards shall escape; and the introduction of the external air is provided for by a series of perforated plates of zinc running round the base of the skirting board; and that, moreover, a series of them should likewise run up the centre of the floor for the admission of fresh air into that part of the chamber; and in order to prevent the apertures from in these horizontal plates being obstructed by dust, as well as to guard against fluid during the washing of the ward finding its way into the air passage in connection with the plates, it was suggested that they should be raised, say two inches, above the level of the floor".
> 
> ...



enough text, here's some pics


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## klempner69 (Oct 28, 2009)

Great shots there fella,it is indeed a very elegant looking admin block.


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## mookster (Oct 28, 2009)

cheers

have uploaded these and the rest of the shots I took to my flickr here http://www.flickr.com/photos/mookie427/sets/72157622560102647/


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## Allstar#500 (Oct 29, 2009)

Some of my shots

Admin





Could this be the mortuary?





Nature reclaiming the site





Some of the decoration on the admin block directly under teh clock tower





I like this upward shot


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## night crawler (Oct 29, 2009)

What a great place


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## Winchester (Oct 29, 2009)

No entry to the buildings?


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## Allstar#500 (Oct 29, 2009)

We only had permission for external shots, mainly for my friends uni project, but obviously we got some photos for ourselves


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## Winchester (Oct 29, 2009)

Ah, I see. It's 

a tricky one to get into.


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## Bax__ (Oct 29, 2009)

Nice photo's the front looks kind of similar to Dr Grays Hospital in Elgin


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## klempner69 (Oct 29, 2009)

The mortuary is round the back down the path..


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## Allstar#500 (Oct 29, 2009)

Ah right cheers for that! With the small plaque on the wall and it being a single story small block we assumed it was mortuary


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## mookster (Oct 29, 2009)

Winchester said:


> No entry to the buildings?



We did spy a couple of possible routes in but as the guard was so nice to us we didn't want to bugger him about...also the routes would be fairly obvious to anyone working around the site so it'd be very hard to do without being seen be somebody


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## nursepayne (Nov 2, 2009)

Oh wow that place looks more overgrown than ever, it actually looks even better like this .


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## Winchester (Nov 2, 2009)

I remember being in the Louise Margaret Maternity Hospital while they were boarding it up...


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## mc_nebula (Nov 3, 2009)

Winchester said:


> I remember being in the Louise Margaret Maternity Hospital while they were boarding it up...



I was born there in 1989. I really need to get myself down here considering it is only 4 miles from home... I was under the impression that it had been demo'd. 

Whats the situ, is it militart land with military police, or what?


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## mookster (Nov 3, 2009)

it's MOD land with gurkha guards on the road leading up, lots of people walking about as well as cars and ambulances parked in the old car parks, the road goes right past the front so you have to watch for cars


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## Potter (Nov 4, 2009)

Yes, that is rather Cane Hill like. Superb looking place.

Love the look of that mortuary.


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## Keith59 (Mar 9, 2010)

Served in CMH during 1982 - 1984. The black wooden structure attached to the back of the 8th photo is the Physiotherapy Gym. The main physio dept was a brick structure that connected this to the main corridor. It was in the old hospital chapel before that moved to a seperate building and structurally it looked like a church inside.
Thanks for these photos guys. Brought back a lot of memories.


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