# ICI Plant Protection Division / Syngenta - Fernhurst - March 2017



## Gromr (Mar 26, 2017)

I've had this place marked for a little while, but I thought it had been demolished to be completely honest. The size and scale of the place was enough to draw me in for a look anyway, and as it turns out it is still very much un-demolished. The last report here was in 2014, so it was interesting to see what the years have done to the place.


*History*

ICI Plant Protection Division is a British company founded in 1926 and developed a wide range of Paints (Crown, Delux etc) and 'Specialty chemicals'. They were a very large FTSE100 company at their peak. 

In 2007 the acquisition process of ICI by AkzoNobel began, eventually being bought for the sum of £8 Billion in the August of 2007. The adhesive side of ICI was sold to Henkel to appease the European commission in ensuring they didn't overly dominate the market. 

_'At 8 a.m. on 2 January 2008, completion of the takeover of ICI plc by AkzoNobel was announced. Shareholders of ICI received either £6.70 in cash or AkzoNobel loan notes to the value of £6.70 per one nominal ICI share. The adhesives business of ICI was transferred to Henkel as a result of the deal, while AkzoNobel agreed to sell its Crown Paints subsidiary to satisfy the concerns of the European Commissioner for Competition'_

Strangely, the CEO of ICI at the time, Sir John Harvey-Jones, died only 7 days later on the 9th of January 2008 at the age of 83.

The offices and laboratory in Furnhurst were closed at some point in mid 2008, and look like they were cleared by contractors in August 2008, almost exactly a year after the acquisition process begun. 

There have been multiple plans for turning the site into housing over the years, yet 9 years later nothing has happened. 



*The Explore*

As I mentioned to begin with, I thought this place had been flatten by now, so I was little surprised to see it in all its entirety still very much standing. 
Just about every door had either been broken open, had the window smashed or had been completely removed. Getting in was about as simple as walking the front door. 

This place is truly vast, probably up there as one of my biggest explores to date. That said, its not the most exciting building. The stripped out offices and long corridors are very much the same and its quite easy to get lost and forget where I have or haven't been yet. 

There are 3 floors and it is connected to the still used pyramid shaped building at the front of the complex. 

The building is shaped like big waffle with now wildly overgrown garden areas in the gaps between. 

I didn't have a huge amount of time to spend here, so I did have to rush round to try and capture the interesting bits. 

Annoyingly just as I was heading out capturing the final shots, I found out there was a basement that I missed. No idea how I get to it, but I didn't have time to try. I'll have to save that for another day if I ever re-visit.


*Photos*







*Externals*
































*Internals*




















































This looks like it was a viewing room for a two way mirror.














































*The Roof*



























*The Outbuildings*


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## smiler (Mar 26, 2017)

It bin trashed but still worth a nose, I liked it Grom, Thanks


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## HughieD (Mar 26, 2017)

Blimey...that place looks massive. Enjoyed that.


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## Brewtal (Mar 27, 2017)

Like you I've had that one on the list but thought it was gone! Nice work man, great pics as always.


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## Gromr (Mar 27, 2017)

Brewtal said:


> Like you I've had that one on the list but thought it was gone! Nice work man, great pics as always.




Thanks Brewtal!

I'm sure I had heard from somewhere that it had been demolished, can't remember where I saw it though! Go check it out if you get a chance, its pretty interesting just for the sheer scale of the place.


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## sue blackeagle (May 16, 2017)

_Knew about this last yr but only just got round to checking it out. Massive place return trip deffo on the cards_


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