# Cherry Knowle Asylum, Sunderland. Look what they've done to the organ! PIC INTENSIVE.



## TeeJF

Here are some piccies from Cherry Knowle which we visited yesterday. Quite an interesting 'splore despite the obvious demo on site. It's sad we didn't get here sooner because as recently as June this year the pix on other peep's reports show a lot more standing and just begging to be photographed. The admin block is completely gone now and as you'll see from our pix even the theatre and chapel are in an advanced state of demolition. 

What really REALLY p*ssed me off though was seeing the chapel organ totally trashed... as a keyboard player that's so bl**dy sacriligious!!! There was an indecently large amount of asbestos about, especially in the ward block alongside the chapel, which worried us a little as we had no respirators with us... duh! Anyhow there was so much water about I doubt the stuff would be "up" in the air as dust but I really must try not to be so careless next time! 

We entered the site whilst the demo team were still working... in most areas of the building trade everyone knocks off about half four... not this lot, so we were forced to doss in a damp field for 45 minutes. And even then when we came around the side of the ward block we almost walked into the secca and some of the demo guys having a chat! It's only the fact that they had their backs to us that we weren't spotted. It's odd how even a bright orange jacket can take on the look of something else when it isn't moving!

Anyways, I'm not attempting to write any history here on Cherry Knowle... I don't know it is why! Hope you like the pix and if anyone has any interesting info on this and any of the other however many asylums that used to exist I'd be glad to hear it together with any book recommendations.


*The view down towards the hospital with the North Sea in the distance. The location is beautiful...*









*View along the back side of the hospital where the airing courts and gardens were...*







*Inside now just behind where the admin block used to be...*








*Foot stool...*








*Decay...*








*Nurses accomodation?*








*Lockers...*








*Shoe...*








*Stairs...*








*A greenhouse in a former bedroom!*








*You don't see classy decor like this in Ikea!*








*Roof fall!*








*Open to the skies now...*








*Knobby! *








*Time we called this meeting to a close...*








*One of the ward wings...*








*Psycho party from hell!*








*The table is set for the guests!*








*Ladies and gentlemen, the King has left the building!*








*Guidance...*








*Every one a Rembrandt - a patient's oil painting dumped in a forgotten room, just one of many we saw there. It's not my kind of art but I came awfully close to forgetting the urb-ex mantra "take nothing but photos" because I found it very poignant finding an expression of someone's soul rotting when it should be in a museum somewhere ...*








*Just hop up onto the couch please and tell me the first thing that pops into your head...*








*Erm... a flower?*








*Tattered...*








*Beyond the holes you can see in the wall, a corridor led off to the main entrance and admin building. Demo have removed it all now right up to the theatre/chapel block...*








*...and they are systematically removing ALL the floor boards on both levels...*








*Demo and site security...*








*The chapel minus a large proportion of it's floor...*








*Stained glass...*








*This REALLY makes my blood boil...*








*Stops - "The Lieblich Gedeckt has been made of both wood and metal. Audsley states a preference for wood, while Bonavia-Hunt insists that its distinctive timbre must be produced by metal pipes. Even when of metal, the 16' and 8' octaves are often of wood. This stop is characterized by a very high cut-up, sometimes even greater than the width of the mouth"... so there! *








*Chapel mural...*








*Wasteland...*








*Colours...*








*Washroom mirrors...*








*Bay window...*








*Sentinels? The chapel roof...*








*Self portrait...*








*Paradoxically this view of the front of the chapel block must be a very recent thing because it would have been hidden by the admin block in the past!*








*Bars...*








*Bum wad!*








*A secure area door release perhaps or a general alarm button?*








*Red Accy engineering brick lasts forever...*








*There's nothing worse than when you spot somewhere you missed but you're already outside again! Look at that inviting little door on a tower wing all of it's own!*








*Th..th...th...that's all folks! Hope you enjoyed it!* ​


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## Janey68

Ya know this just breaks my heart! Such a sad end to a beautiful building. Lovely pics tho guys. I enjoyed looking, though it was with a heavy heart....


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## susanmackem

*cherry knowles*

been there a couple of times but never been able to get in, great to finally see inside, great pics


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## Pincheck

yeh well demo crews are not really Known for having a light touch,this was our first English asylum/ Foreign asylum trip with the other now defunct St.Marys very sad


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## PaulPowers

Jesus the sites gone down hill recently


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## TeeJF

PaulPowers said:


> Jesus the sites gone down hill recently



Unbelievable isn't it... and in just two or three months!


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## fluffy5518

A crackin report with good photo's !! What a (once) beautiful site !! Such a shame to see the legalised vandalism in progress !!Thanx for posting !!


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## GraceB

Great photos and such a shame to see it go. 

This might sound weird but I have a lot of happy childhood memories from here - my dad was a nurse at Cherry and I remember the Christmas parties for all the staff's kids in the hall and the fireworks on Bonfire Night


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## Commando

Yes, it's really tragic what they have done to these fine old buildings; is nothing worth preserving? They've made a right mess of the organ. Anyway, a great collection of pictures.


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## TeeJF

GraceB said:


> This might sound weird but I have a lot of happy childhood memories from here



It was a happy asylum then? You hear such horror stories about so many of the asylums, some of the worst being from Whitty and Highroyds. If anyone is interested there's a seriously horrible story on: 

http://www.highroydsarchive.co.uk/id16.html

from Highroyds. It staggered me when I read it.

Thanks for your kind comments.

M and TJ


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## curiousmoggy

Thanks for the pictures! Great job!

Does anyone know if it's still standing now? Really want to visit  It's such an awful shame to see yet another beautiful, old building get demolished 

Also, is St.Marys in Stannington still standing?


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## johno23

Great report and pics,love the captions
What a fab location right by the sea as well.

There seems to be a pathological need to demolish all old asylums currently.

This is a carbon copy of one of a very similar design near to us called Kingsway,which we have been following with several visits during its current demolition.

They are only demolishing it to build crappy matchbox clone houses that no one wants or can afford,I would place a bet its perhaps the same with yours.


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## TeeJF

curiousmoggy said:


> Thanks for the pictures! Great job!
> 
> Does anyone know if it's still standing now? Really want to visit  It's such an awful shame to see yet another beautiful, old building get demolished
> 
> Also, is St.Marys in Stannington still standing?



Thanks for your kind comments. I can only comment on what I saw earlier in the year when we went over to both those asylums. St. Mary's was demo'd down to the wards blocks but the central linking corridors etc are all gone. That has left them free standing units and to ready them for conversion to flats they have stripped them internally back to bare brick walls. The theatre was still standing and the admin block however we could NOT get across the wide open central space to admin due to there being demolition workers on site. A big pre-fab building was still standing too but one heavy gust of wind would probably bring it down if it isn't down already. There was a completely seperate unit in the woods that was almost untouched but heavily chavved together with a couple of semi detached houses in the same state.I am told the chapel is still intact though we didn't even see it let alone explore it. It's still worth a look and access was easy but it's a shadow of it's former self.

A per pro Cherry Knowle... the rate they were demolishing it (a conservative estimate = 60% dropped and ground to brick dust in 2 to 3 months) then I'll be surprised if it's worth the effort now though I've seen these projects grind to an ignominious halt and stay in stasis for years! Take a peep, you might get a pleasant surprise.

PM me if you want to know anymore. Our St. Marys pix are also in here somewhere, just go via our thread list or search with the search facility at the top of the page.

Good luck.


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## TeeJF

johno23 said:


> Great report and pics,love the captions
> What a fab location right by the sea as well.



We thought that too though speaking to someone who lives close he says it's bl**dy bleak in the winter! They used to literally wake the patients, feed them and then lock them outdoors for most of the day at many asylums during the less caring times pre 70s so I shudder to think how bad it must have been at Cherry Knowle in the winter being locked out with only a few pavilions to shelter in.



johno23 said:


> This is a carbon copy of one of a very similar design near to us called Kingsway



That's one we have been considering doing for a while but we haven't bothered because we heard there was very little left now and it was tucked up extremely tight in terms of fencing, security etc. We went over to Aston Hall instead and whilst that's well and truly trashed it wasn't a bad little explore.

Cheers...


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## Cuban B.

I thought there would've been more gone by now.


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## Em_Ux

Great report as usual  

Such a shame to see it in such a state. 

Glad you got to look around before it's all gone.


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## night crawler

You had the wife with you, I'm dam sure mine would not go along. Some great photo's, love the sentinels one best.


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## TeeJF

night crawler said:


> You had the wife with you, I'm dam sure mine would not go along. Some great photo's, love the sentinels one best.


Ah no, that's not how it is! She's the mad keen full on urbexer who drags me along in her wake!


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## Silent Hill

Another fine report from the lone ranger team  Shame to see her being ground down


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## rizla01

That is a well covered report.

Likewise re the paintings but I would also hope that SOMEONE will retain/use that chapel roof structure.

Thanks for sharing.


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## wolfism

Interesting to see Cherry Knowle stripped back – perhaps it's a sign that the construction industry is grinding into gear again. Generally speaking demo work is much faster now than even twenty years ago, as the machines contractors use are bigger and much more capable (longer reach and more powerful hydraulics) so one 30 ton class excavator can keep several tipper lorries fed. The speed of demolition will keep on increasing, too.

Shame about the organ, I guess they deemed it too far gone to salvage.

ps. The thing you reckoned was a secure area door release is an electromagnetic hold-open, if the alarm sounds it would release the door and the latter would close.


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## Talularainbow26

great images


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## tumbles

The organ was already heavily vandalised in the 10 or so years that the buildings stood unprotected/unsecured. In a way it doesn't look much different in part demo as it did when it was still standing. 

The murials in the chapel & swimming pool were painted by a lady called Suzanne - she was the artist in residence in 1985/6 - She's been living in the US since 91 but still checks in on sites like this to see the state of them!


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## TeeJF

Fascinating info, thanks for that. Best wishes, M and TJ


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## Advent

Tis sad indeed the number of times I have passed those buildings on route to the A19 south bound. My wife had an appointment there once back in the 1970s.. Weird questions they asked one she recalls Why do you want to marry your boyfriend?... On a serious note Cherry knowles is ace they let you play guitar in there according to a local singer I have that track somewhere or was it on You tube? Found it on You Tube...[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q0T_DybbpY[/ame] 
While we on about You Tube there is a bit about Cherry Knowles have a look.


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## Ninja Kitten

love the curtain shot! great place


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## TeeJF

Ninja Kitten said:


> love the curtain shot! great place



I'm told it is literally ALL gone now by someone I know who lives up there...


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## Krypton

Yep there is nothing left at all.


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## Potter

Such a shame.

I'd have been tempted by that personal stereo. So 80s.

That alarm button is actually an electromagnet that held open a door, and released it when the fire alarm went off. The red button was to test or release the door so it could be closed.


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## TeeJF

Potter said:


> I'd have been tempted by that personal stereo.



But then you'd have committed an act of burglary! I would have been tempted by the organ if it wasn't trashed and if I could have got it in my rucksack.


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## smiler

Another great post, Thanks, I enjoyed it and can empathise with the temptation to take something other than photos from a site just to protect it


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## TeeJF

smiler said:


> can empathise with the temptation to take something other than photos from a site just to protect it




Yes it can be tempting. I suppose you have to set your own level of honesty/morality and do your best to stick by it.


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## Krypton

When i was last there - all the buildings had totally gone.

However, something caught my eye sticking out the rubble.







I dont feel as if i have committed any great act of burgalry or broke the law - although i probablys have. 

What is more of a crime in my opinion is how these places are left to rot.


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## TeeJF

In the case of something like that which has just been abandoned amongst the rubble it's very hard to regard it is a crime isn't it because clearly it has no intrinsic value to the owners. But technically it still belongs to someone and you were presumably trespassing on private property at the time you found them unless you were exploring by invite. That makes it theft QED! But UK law is, let's face it, a friggin' ass at times. 

A parallel might be drawn in divers bringing artifacts off shipwrecks but the law there is rather more sensible - if you bring something up then you must declare it to Receiver Of Wreck and it is yours only if the wreck owner doesn't want it BUT if he does you are entitled to a hefty proportion of it's market value as a salvage payment. That would seem to me to be an emminently more sensible set of rules!


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## Krypton

I'll probablys just donate them to Sunderland Museum. I've salvaged lots of stuff that now resides happily in museums.


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## TeeJF

Krypton said:


> I'll probablys just donate them to Sunderland Museum. I've salvaged lots of stuff that now resides happily in museums.



Offer them first but iif they do what Bolton Museum did when we offered a genuine 17th Dyn Egyptian artifact on a semi permanent loan (refused un;less we paid for insurance!!!) then tell them to wander up that dark alley known as barse!


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## smiler

TeeJF said:


> Yes it can be tempting. I suppose you have to set your own level of honesty/morality and do your best to stick by it.



Yeah that’s true, but the urge to preserve rather than just record is, and probably will always be an issue with a lot of decent and honest folk, my own feeling is, if you take something away from a site, (such as the art that you photographed) what the hell could you do with it, it has little if any monetary value, which wasn’t the reason why I have considered taking items found while exploring anyway, and once they are removed from their home they are out of context and could never be displayed as they were when first encountered, that these items sometimes get scavenged or destroyed by others is frustrating, but as you said you set your own standards.


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## Ninja Kitten

A parallel might be drawn in divers bringing artifacts off shipwrecks but the law there is rather more sensible - if you bring something up then you must declare it to Receiver Of Wreck and it is yours only if the wreck owner doesn't want it BUT if he does you are entitled to a hefty proportion of it's market value as a salvage payment. That would seem to me to be an emminently more sensible set of rules![/QUOTE]

sooo...if you dive a wreck and bring something up with you as a keep sake..(not the hull or anything to weigh in!) can you keep it?


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## TeeJF

No. Every wreck, irrespective of where it is in the world, still belongs to someone. If you bring anything up off the wreck at all you are obliged to declare it to the Receiver Of Wreck who notifies the owner. If the owner wants the item he is obliged to pay a salvage fee based upon the market value of the item plus your salvage operational cost for the recovery. In practise that means that most items brought up apart from the likes of bullion are not worth the owner claiming. Where it gets a bit odd is if what is brought up is part of the wreck such as lumps of the hull or the like. All steel from the time before the first atomic bomb, especially armour steel such as that on war ships is not irradiated and therefore has an enormous scrap value for scientific purposes. Part of one of the voyager space probes is steel from a Scapa Flow German warship. Then I am not sure how it works. Another oddity is the way that people used to "buy" a wreck for next to nothing in real terms, a pound in one instance! The Titanic's sister ship Britannic is owned by a guy who charges a huge fee even to consider allowing a dive party on to the wreck!


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## Ninja Kitten

TeeJF said:


> Part of one of the voyager space probes is steel from a Scapa Flow German warship.




i dived the Köln and the Burmmer, have you dived any of them?

so i better take my canon balls back to plymouth then hay


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## kevsy21

Good selection of good pics there,well done.


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## TeeJF

Ninja Kitten said:


> i dived the Köln and the Burmmer, have you dived any of them?
> 
> so i better take my canon balls back to plymouth then hay



Who's a naughty naughty kitten then! Yeah, dived all the Scapa wrecks a few times EXCEPT the Markgraf. Have you looked at our dive photo pages too? They're all from when we started again in 2006.


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## Krypton

depends on the circumstances really i think


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## the|td4

The only thing that I can think that I'm guilty of this over is marbles. 

I love marbles. I seem to have a bloodhound's nose for them. I see a marble languishing in the corner of some old yard and I have to save it. I have a jar full in the shed and when I find a marble I return it to it's "brothers".

I know, I have issues.

CK is gone now so a set of keys poking out of the detritus should be saved.


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## TeeJF

I'm just glad we did it when we did. There was a serious number of buildings gone even then and it was a bit dodgy getting in but well worth the effort in retrospect. I'm astounded that this posting keeps "rising from the ashes" phoenix style! 

Regarding taking stuff, I agree with everyone's sentiments, especially regarding the keys as clearly they were just so much "back fill". But where do you stop if you "liberate" items from a site? I don't have an answer to that but I hope everyone agrees with me that there's no room at all in Derelict Places for the kind of things that went on recently in another forum resulting in the comment, "28dayslooter" being daubed on a wall somewhere we explored...


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## Ninja Kitten

TeeJF said:


> Who's a naughty naughty kitten then! Yeah, dived all the Scapa wrecks a few times EXCEPT the Markgraf. Have you looked at our dive photo pages too? They're all from when we started again in 2006.



i havent no..where do i find them? did you ever dive Wookey Hole?


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## TeeJF

Ninja Kitten said:


> i havent no..where do i find them? did you ever dive Wookey Hole?



No we didn't sadly. Would have been great! I can remember them diving Wookey in Siebe Gorman standard rigs back when I was like 6 or something, you know, the old brass hard hats? I tried one in 1982 but only in a tank of water, not in open water. Wookey I thought was only for cave diving clubs?

You can see our diving pics by following the link below on our signature. Unfortunately they are all post 2006 so there's no Scapa - we did a trip one Easter, 2007 I think it was, but the weather was attrocious and the water very murky so we got no pix. If the link fails I'll give you an alternative... 

http://www.jarrelook.co.uk/Diving/Diving_index_page/index.html

M and T


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## Ninja Kitten

TeeJF said:


> No we didn't sadly. Would have been great! I can remember them diving Wookey in Siebe Gorman standard rigs back when I was like 6 or something, you know, the old brass hard hats? I tried one in 1982 but only in a tank of water, not in open water. Wookey I thought was only for cave diving clubs?
> 
> You can see our diving pics by following the link below on our signature. Unfortunately they are all post 2006 so there's no Scapa - we did a trip one Easter, 2007 I think it was, but the weather was attrocious and the water very murky so we got no pix. If the link fails I'll give you an alternative...
> 
> http://www.jarrelook.co.uk/Diving/Diving_index_page/index.html
> 
> M and T



oooo il hae a peep..yes i think it is for cave diving clubs..but they do open day dives and courses as long as qualified to a certain level..dive leader and above i beleive.. but dont quote me on that, may of changed now..,,oh and the pic i just got! he he! all i can say is what a stunner!!


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