# Babies / Hawkhurst Castle - Aug 2012



## UE-OMJ (Aug 16, 2012)

In 1886, the largest Barnardo's home for orphans under six years old (although see no 5 below) was built in Hawkhurst, caring for hundreds of babies. It was known as Babies' Castle, and followed nine inspiring principles, known as "The Nine Nos":

1.No destitute child refused
2.No Race Barrier
3.No Creed Clause
4.No Physical Disability
5.No Age Limit
6.No Money Promise
7.No Voting
8.No Waiting
9.No Red Tape


By 1965 the number of children in care at the Babies Castle had so reduced it was decided to finally close the orphanage. It was re-named 'Hawkhurst Castle' and became a private old people's nursing home, but in 2005 it was sold again for £1.7 million and planning permission was granted to turn it into flats, but this never happened.

Incredibly during our visit there was evidence of both the babies era and the old peoples home (although I suspect some of these items may have been brought in for effect recently).



These two images are from http://canadianbritishhomechildren.weebly.com/babies-castle---barnardos.html which is really worth a look, there are many more similar old photos here with some great history too.















*My photos of our visit... (Visited with Abel101 and another non-member)*
























*I'm guessing this was a swimming pool once!*













*I have to say it's very sad to see the state of this building inside*









































































*Upstairs is very dangerous, lots of the floor is missing, and as per the other visits with Abel101 I was left to explore these places alone *











































*Nice big driers, probably used for drying the wet babies *

































*Ok, it might be a wreck and falling to bits, but it still looks lovely in places...*















*Thanks for looking​*
.


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## freespirits (Aug 16, 2012)

wow dude now thats a place full of memories ,,,great pics


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## UEP-Wales (Aug 16, 2012)

Fantastic shots there OMJ, such a shame it's in this state 

Cheers for sharing dude!


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## Ninja Kitten (Aug 16, 2012)

ha ha! love the baby dryer!


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## Ace247 (Aug 16, 2012)

Nice place, shame it's gone to ruin, looks like the copper bandits have been in.. 
Thanks for sharing!


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## TeeJF (Aug 16, 2012)

It's a grim place isn't it! Hope you didn't have a wee swalley in the pub over the road before tackling the first floor like I did! Bl**dy stupid of me frankly.

Are the death certificates and personal dociuments of some of the elderly peeps still in that outbuilding round the side? That was a bit naughty of them to leave stuff like that behind.

I like the historical pix you found, they're brilliant!

well done.


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## UE-OMJ (Aug 16, 2012)

TeeJF said:


> It's a grim place isn't it! Hope you didn't have a wee swalley in the pub over the road before tackling the first floor like I did! Bl**dy stupid of me frankly.
> 
> Are the death certificates and personal dociuments of some of the elderly peeps still in that outbuilding round the side? That was a bit naughty of them to leave stuff like that behind.
> 
> ...



No, didnt visit the pub first. I had heard about you doing that before going there 

No personal documents in the outbuilding that I saw, just a few books.

Cheers


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## abel101 (Aug 16, 2012)

Bout time too steve!
Got some better shots than I did here, so good job on those aswel, nice slice of history along with it too.
Glad I could be your tour guide 

"WIN....DOW"


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## flyboys90 (Aug 16, 2012)

Great looking site with lots of history,thanks for sharing.


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## Headflux (Aug 21, 2012)

How you got these shots I'll never know lol...


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## UE-OMJ (Aug 21, 2012)

Headflux said:


> How you got these shots I'll never know lol...



I snap everything, and sometimes I get lucky


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## PROJ3CTM4YH3M (Oct 26, 2012)

Nice report plenty of interesting stuff here. Loving the windows on the stairs shame theyve been smashed


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## skankypants (Oct 26, 2012)

Thanks for posting,what a intresting place....


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## UrbexMami (Oct 28, 2012)

Beautiful place, nice to see someone documenting it's decline 
Thank you x


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## shot_in_the_dark (Oct 29, 2012)

really interesting report, and love the picture of the stairs with those huge windows! 

thanks for sharing


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## Stealthstar79 (Oct 29, 2012)

I have never seen this place before thanks for sharing..
loving the old pics.


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## UrbexMami (Oct 29, 2012)

I had to have another look at these and a thought occurred to me. How many children were "saved" by this place? I wonder how many had a happy childhood?
It's sad, but I hope the place did provide a happy home to all they took in.


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## maxmix (Oct 29, 2012)

Some great atmospheric shots, thanks for sharing


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