# Runwell Hospital



## krela (Nov 23, 2005)

Well known for having an abundance of brain tissue samples left behind, the old Runwell Hospital has been relocation to newer buildings, leaving a series of wards and buildings behind.

You can find information about the "Runwell Brains" here.

Chat topic posts here - please use for further posting.


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## clansman (Dec 4, 2005)

I had a look round last year and got chaced by security, they have also put up a sighn at the front entrance which reads something like this...Enter at your own risk,due to the nature of the patients we cannot accept resposibility for any accidents etc.
I parked at the old church and walked down fields and over the bridge to nowhere.
Not very good UE due to the constant patrols by Patient MiniBus Driver round the site.
Any updates would be welcome.:icon_evil


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## sam (Dec 9, 2005)

could do with being noted that's it's 50% in use. only the edges are disused. it was built around 1928/30 i think. the main original part is the bit in use, although a few of the newer blocks, look 60s, are disused, but are fairly well destroyed now. the disused wards over to the far other end i think are original, but portacabins appeared on the site in front of them. it wasn't clear where patients are being moved in/out to/from and what the portacabins are for. the actual labs are (were) a very tiny part of it, but became a target and have been looted. mostly it's in-use wards and some trashed outbuildings which makes it probably not worth going unless you're local or passing (on tiptoe).

sam


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## cybergibbons (Dec 28, 2005)

*Visit on 27/12/05*

We decided to go and check this place out, being quite close to where we are. We took a drive around the site first, finding a mixture of used and disused in close proximity. The whole place looks disused, but power and people suggest that it is used (for example, look round by the water tower and services section - bits of Cane Hill look in better condition).

The most interesting looking parts are a large ward block to the east of the site, and the fenced off section to the west. We decided to go with the fenced off section.

The fence doesn't extend very far at all - in fact, only along the side of the road closest to the in use parts of the hospital. I have no idea why they did this, it seems pointless. So, we walked around it.

There is a large single story block labelled "Neurophysiology", pretty well boarded up. It looks boring from the outside, so we push on. The rest of the blocks are smaller and even better boarded up.

Our normal method of getting round these places tends to be the tunnels. It allows movement from building to building without being seen, and without having to find a way in each time. A small plant room has been broken open, and has an entrance to the tunnels. Down we go...

To cut a long story short, the tunnels go on from a fair distance, with crawl height spurs leading off to several ward blocks. There is no access from tunnel to the wards unless you are the size of a cat. The tunnels do cross under the road, and into the live part of the hospital, but then they stop at a tunnel far too small to crawl through. A strong draught can be felt through it though, suggesting it leads to the rest of the system.

So we leave the tunnels again, after a long, dirty, asbestos riddled journey.

Let's just say the large block is accessible with little effort. And it is well worth going in. Compared to any other place, even Cane Hill 7 years ago, this building is virtually untouched. 

The X-ray room still has the developing machines in it. The labs still have glassware in them. There are documents, slides, electrodes, records, books, everything. We spent a long time looking through it all - the building is suprisingly large once inside and nearly every room has something of interest. It's also quite light inside, with an overabundance of skylights.

The brain samples appear to have gone... which I guess is a good thing.

We need to go back to do some of the other buildings sometime. No sign of security and we weren't really trying to be subtle.

Well worth a visit anyway.

My photos here:
http://flickr.com/photos/cybergibbons/sets/1679342/


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## clansman (Apr 16, 2006)

*Re: Runwell Mental Hospital*

Had a day out to Runwell today,not much has changed,most of the buildings have been re-boarded up and you cant get into OT department,some vandals had broken into Leigh ward and smelt of burning a bit.
One interesting thing was in the large single story lab building,X ray ward place,in the Main coridor system,Go left to the end of the passage and someone has broken a hole through a false wall leading to further lab rooms and a lab store room packed full of very old lab stuff,i did not even know this area existed.Well worth a look,even a very old Brass Lab oven still in there.as wll as shelves full of Unused brass and glass syringes and masses of lab glassware.Strange, why not just clear the rooms out and re use them, but they myst have just sealed up the whole area and forogotton about it.


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## clansman (Apr 19, 2006)

*Re: Runwell Mental Hospital*

PM me for Access to LAB Block,The best way to look at site is to park at the church car park in Rettendon Place, follow footpath through churchyard and head to the Foot bridge over by-pass.The you get round the back away from CCTV and Security,In the LAB there are dangerous chemicals everywhere so Dont Touch anything, i got a bad sore on my leg from kneeling in something???but its well worth a trip.
PS also worth a look is a Bunker at the back of LEIGH Ward


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## Pete (May 23, 2006)

*Re: Runwell Mental Hospital*

A bit of news from Runwell, someone kindly sent me this link so i thought folk would be interested.The roof of the recreation hall appears to have suddenly collapsed whilst the building was in use. They are currently deciding whether it is viable to re-open it. Write up and photo here


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## Lone Explorer (May 28, 2006)

*Re: Runwell Mental Hospital*






larger Image

well that new! There a new Hut with red door next to Hillview building were is also two large skips, Don't know if it getting nocked down of this is part of the ceiling collapses of last week. 

I see the gard come out of the hut. Thats when me and Phillips split up

got this in mail box from mate 

http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=51.634563&lon=0.542571&z=17.4&r=5&src=2


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## Pete (May 28, 2006)

*Re: Runwell Mental Hospital*



Lone Explorer said:


> well that new! There a new Hut with red door next to Hillview building were is also two large skips, Don't know if it getting nocked down of this is part of the ceiling collapses of last week.
> 
> I see the gard come out of the hut. Thats when me and Phillips split up




I would imagine that they are stationed there while those blocks are being cleared of contents - hence the skips. In the light of the trust issuing warnings about photos of hospital documents and publicity regarding the lab samples etc i would imagine they have taken the logical step to empty the place. Whether this will be the precursor to redevelopment/demolition is another thing though as the rest of the place has about two years left to run and nothing has yet been done with the site of the hospital housing that was demolished back in 2004.
I doubt it would be anything to do with the ceiling collapse in the hall as thats some distance away.


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