# High Royds Decline april 08



## silverstealth (May 6, 2008)

The builders are departing, the windows on every corridor and pavillion are being boarded and the admin roof is that damaged by water ingress that its in danger of collapsing effecting the clock tower structure. Expect the owners to fire up the ballroom soon to avoid any responsibility.





































on the trail of archive images I have managed to find a few including the original build negtives.











laundry fire late 1970's






view from clock tower 1979











These are just a few of the old stuff there are shed loads more of these old pictures on http://www.highroydshospital.co.uk


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## freebird (May 6, 2008)

I love all the pics but especially love the 2nd pic and the water tower pic. Its also good to see the historical pics too. Thanks for sharing.


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## King Al (May 6, 2008)

Great report silverstealth, Pic 6 is really cool. Its such a shame its going to be destroyed, I think that when a building has served people for 100 years it should automatically get protection from getting like this


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## Bunk3r (May 6, 2008)

absolutely shocking when last year the owner said words to the effect of:the damage caused by the lead theft was all sorted and wouldnt effect the floor or building, which at the time was rubbish but I thought he would act on it, when i visited a few weeks later he clearly hadn't and still clearly hasn't done whats needed.


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## L3AN (May 6, 2008)

Fantastic stuff as ever Silver 


Owners.. would you trust these?

http://www.ravengroup.co.uk/directors.asp

High Royd's was bought for 25M and a small area of the site was then sold on for the same amount meaning the 'developers' have/had nothing but profit... 

The state of HR has never really surprised me.. 'It's just business to these people.


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## ERNIE99_UK (May 6, 2008)

*Highroyds*

Its in a very bad state now ,the pictures taken last year in there look like another building. Its deteriorating that fast that it might be unsalvageable.

The current instability in the housing market wont help things either, i dont think id ever buy an "apartment" (flat really). Imagine the maintenance charge on a place like that.


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## BrickMan (May 6, 2008)

holy hell man, this is teh worst report I've ever seen on royds, not photography wise, I mean the freaking state of the place!!!!

its appauling! visited just 5months ago and it was nothing like this.

the council should be issueing a compulsary 'fix it' notice (or whatever the proper term is) then charge the devolpers for their total lack of care. 

with all the photographs over here and 28, I think there is enough evidense for a case


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## Kezza (May 6, 2008)

They have started work on it though now! They have scaffholding up doing the roof and have totally blocked everything off to get it sorted! Hope they dont destroy it!


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## snappel (May 6, 2008)

silverstealth said:


>


That's pretty disappointing. Even 6 months ago, that corridor was in pretty good condition. In September, it was virtually mint. And for once, it seems, it's those that should know better (i.e. the builder firms) that have fucked it up.


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## melvinbmx (May 6, 2008)

Nice one silver, Lost and myself were at High Royds at the weekend but failed on entry apart from one corridor thast was sealed from the rest, we were gutted! Didnt realise so much had been converted, the housing estate is horrible


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## vanburen (May 6, 2008)

very sad photos there mate,it is a crying shame how its got that bad...


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## MD (May 6, 2008)

some great photos on your site mate.
we never made it to the admin
its locked up tight


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## sqwasher (May 6, 2008)

Good pics & always good to see older photos too. We were there a couple of weeks ago & it is as bad as it looks here!  Got a quick pic of some of the 'repair' work...






Hopefully it might stop it getting any worse but it ain't gonna fix it!


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## silverstealth (May 6, 2008)

snappel said:


> That's pretty disappointing. Even 6 months ago, that corridor was in pretty good condition. In September, it was virtually mint. And for once, it seems, it's those that should know better (i.e. the builder firms) that have fucked it up.









september, October 2007






december 2007


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## turkey (May 7, 2008)

truly outrageous..


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## nursepayne (May 7, 2008)

Yeah sad to see it look so bad in a shaort space of time but at least you got some good pics from it!
Is the clocktower open now then or is that an older pic taken up there?


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## silverstealth (May 7, 2008)

nursepayne said:


> Yeah sad to see it look so bad in a shaort space of time but at least you got some good pics from it!
> Is the clocktower open now then or is that an older pic taken up there?




The pictures from the clock tower were taken in 1979.


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## Dirus_Strictus (May 7, 2008)

King Al said:


> Great report silverstealth, Pic 6 is really cool. Its such a shame its going to be destroyed, I think that when a building has served people for 100 years it should automatically get protection from getting like this



I would question the word 'served'. I have only seen one web site, that gives a glimpse of the horrendous things carried out in this place, in the name of medicine. The abuse carried out in the adolescent unit in the 70s was indescribable. As with many of these institutions and similar establishments - ie the Jersey Children's Home - they seemed to attract a certain type of 'carer' to the wards. Although constituting a very small proportion of the staff, there were enough to cause real problems for the patients. You begin to wonder who actually should have been 'Sectioned'. Just for the record, my knowledge of the goings on in that particular unit, comes first hand from a life long friend of my wife. As a 15 year old, the girl had been sectioned for 3 years after attempting suicide. The care was so good, she was able to make two further attempts whilst a 'resident'!

Quite frankly most of us who live in the area, wish that the place had been demolished, and the site used for building a proper new general hospital. The new Warfedale Hospital being built by private enterprise, on a very unsuitable site, is totally inadequate and will cost the tax payer a fortune. 

There is nothing really special about High Royds. It is a typical Victorian Institutional building, costly to maintain and certainly not suitable for modern hospital use.


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## Pete (May 7, 2008)

Dirus_Strictus said:


> I would question the word 'served'. I have only seen one web site, that gives a glimpse of the horrendous things carried out in this place, in the name of medicine. The abuse carried out in the adolescent unit in the 70s was indescribable. As with many of these institutions and similar establishments - ie the Jersey Children's Home - they seemed to attract a certain type of 'carer' to the wards. Although constituting a very small proportion of the staff, there were enough to cause real problems for the patients. You begin to wonder who actually should have been 'Sectioned'. Just for the record, my knowledge of the goings on in that particular unit, comes first hand from a life long friend of my wife. As a 15 year old, the girl had been sectioned for 3 years after attempting suicide. The care was so good, she was able to make two further attempts whilst a 'resident'!
> 
> Quite frankly most of us who live in the area, wish that the place had been demolished, and the site used for building a proper new general hospital. The new Warfedale Hospital being built by private enterprise, on a very unsuitable site, is totally inadequate and will cost the tax payer a fortune.
> 
> There is nothing really special about High Royds. It is a typical Victorian Institutional building, costly to maintain and certainly not suitable for modern hospital use.



I would say 'served' was a fair term for the building - whether or not its use considered good or bad in reflection. After all it was built for the area it 'served' between 1888 and 2003 and 'served' essentially the same purpose over that period of time, did it not?
To compare it to that childrens home is perhaps more than a little offensive - naturally being a mental hospital there will always be a bias towards the suffering which occured both within patients minds and at the hands of unscrupulous staff - however that does a great disservice to those that work for years in this and other institutions for the patients benefit and a comparison with massive child abuse/murder on jersey is ridiculous and sensational.
Believe me i'm no fool to what went on in mental hospitals and do try to remain consistently objective, but to hear the same hackneyed line that they are bad places and should be wiped of the map is simplistic and ignorant
And as for people with suicidal tendencies, i too have known people close to me - admission to hospital is by no means a guarantee of prevention, whatever they experience within there. 
High Royds is a sensational building and totally unique in this day and age within its class and has been recognised as such in it's listing - this thread goes to show the unnecessary damage allowed to happen by those who should be in a position to stop it. Perhaps Wharfedale general is in the wrong place, but thats the NHS for your today. Its about maximising profit and minimising expenditure.
I find your attitude to historic buildings rather cynical and dismissive to be honest. you seem to recognise the value in the grand and ancient but have an attitude which suggests that anything else is a waste of development potential, or time on those interested in preserving, and that they are misguided This kind of attitude seems to appear in mosts threads you contribute too - it begins to sap the life blood out of me.
I'm off to work
Pete


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## boxerheaven (May 7, 2008)

here here well said pete, i live in the area and am glad the building is still there,it is as pete says a sensational building and i know both patients and staff who have happy memories of the place. it is sad to see it in the state it is in now very sad indeed


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## silverstealth (May 7, 2008)

Love it or hate it High Royds is etched on the map as one of the best examples of the broad arrow echelon corridor system in the country. The admin displays some of the finest victorian craftmanship with truly beautiful attention to detail. 

Imagine taking a relative there a hundred years ago to be seen by a doctor and entering the main corridor upon seeing the mosaics and glossy tiles you could not have failed to be in total awe. 

This hospital is of massive architectural importance and is seeped in history. For a 120 years thousands of people have lived and died in its isolated community.

Everyone you speak to regarding High Royds has a different take on the place, everyone has their own interpratation and I have come to respect that. True many bad things happened to people in there but on the other hand many people found it a place of safety. 

These establishments served a purpose but sometimes this purpose was abused with the morals of the day dictating what was deemed as a good reason to remove an individual from society.

You sometimes get the impression that the large psychiatric hospitals were basically a human skip, people incarcerated in misery and appalling conditions but then you hear touching stories of care and commitment from the staff. 

Hospitals like high royds served the local community, small towns local to them became large towns through employment at the asylum. For example in Menston and Guisley any long standing family will have had at least one member of their family or close friend employed there.

I believe high royds was built on the firm foundation of honourable intentions but sadly along the way many of these honourable intentions were sometimes lacking.


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## silverstealth (May 7, 2008)

A few more bits.


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## Foxylady (May 7, 2008)

silverstealth said:


> This hospital is of massive architectural importance and is seeped in history...Everyone you speak to regarding High Royds has a different take on the place...



Hundred per cent agree with those statements, Silverstealth! As someone who's freaked out by hospitals or asylums, my approach is from an aesthetic/architectural/photographic point of view, and High Royds has always had the 'wow' factor for me because of it's beautiful arched corridors, fireplaces, tiles, stained-glass windows, etc. I don't see how we can be dismissive at the loss of such craftsmanship and attention to detail instead of the cost-cutting that churns out such banality nowadays. Tis very sad.


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## dodge (May 7, 2008)

Really gone to town bricking up the old doorway arch


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## BrickMan (May 8, 2008)

blocking stuff up, just madness, and making it look pretty bad, also shows whats getting demo'd like 

I think your photoprocessing has made it look the worst, but it has genuinily degraded so much!


personal views + feelings aside, its a fantastic building (least it was) and such greatness and grandour will never again be incorporated into a public building in the future.


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## silverstealth (May 8, 2008)

BrickMan said:


> blocking stuff up, just madness, and making it look pretty bad, also shows whats getting demo'd like
> 
> I think your photoprocessing has made it look the worst, but it has genuinily degraded so much!
> 
> ...




Here they are unprocessed.


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## **Mudlark** (May 8, 2008)

processed or unprocessed, its still looking pretty grim 

Looks like an awesome place, i hate the way these places are left to rot. Still, take some comfort in the fact that the place has been very well documented by people who care about it, and want to show it at its best, even in its current state.

well done to everyone who has taken pics in there, the place may be demolished/converted soon but at least they are going to do SOMETHING with it, rather than let it fall in on itself, like cherry Knowles up here.


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## Gibbo (May 8, 2008)

I think the processed pictures make it look fire damaged, and give a distorted view of the place.


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## silverstealth (May 8, 2008)

yes your right, I agree after seeing the 2 together.


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