# Whittingham County Asylum July 2012



## Wakey Lad (Jul 22, 2012)

Whittingham mental hospital was completed in June 1875 as the fourth Lancashire County Asylum. Designed by county architect Henry Littler, the asylum was located 7 miles from the nearby town of Preston. 

At full capacity the asylum was home to nearing 3,533 patients (and 600 staff) making it the largest populated in Great Britain and second largest in Europe.

The design of the red brick buildings takes form of multiple detached quadrangle blocks with inter-connecting corridors that radiate out from a central axis.

The entire site like so many others from the Victorian era thrived off of its own self-sufficiency. The asylum owned its own railway station, 500 acres of farmland, a water tower, cinema/theatre brewery and butchers and in the early years even the bricks were made from red clay that was excavated from the site. The exception to self containment from the outside world was that coal supplies used to be brought up to the hospital by horse and cart prior to the extension that was made to the railway line, this line however was shut down in 1957.

The hospital also sported its own bandstand, a patient's military band, and various extensions that were made over the years to the original buildings such as a separate unit constructed for the treatment of infectious diseases.

During the summer of 1967, the entire asylum witnessed one of its darkest moments in history which prompted a public commission of enquiry that lead to an investigation in 1971. These allegations were made by two senior members of staff, and the stories of unspeakable cruelty inflicted onto patients and money laundering began to leak like disease.

Forms of 'torture' were being carried out on patients in such a way that would not reveal any obvious signs of assault such as pressing cold soaking towels around their necks until they reached a level of unconsciousness. Eventually two male nurses were convicted of theft however subsequently a male nurse assaulted two elderly patients, one of whom died as a result of the attack and the nurse was convicted of manslaughter and sent to prison.

Interestingly part of the secure hospital at Whittingham that is still live was recently at the centre of a sex scandal in which a psychologist named Stephanie Reeves engaged in sexual intercourse with a patient in one of the bathrooms of the asylum whilst escorting him to the gym.

The patient aged 20 who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia has since been detained under the mental health act for battery, affray and 'unlawful wounding'! In a full confession the psychologist declared that she was pregnant with the patient's child and she was spared by the judge a 12 month prison sentence prior to giving birth due to the exceptional circumstances.

The hospital closed in 1995 and has since been left abandoned, plagued by decay and perpetual dilapidation as well as by vandals, thieves and the curious. An uneasy feeling of impending danger engulfs the beautiful grounds of Whittingham thanks to metal thieves and scavengers on the prowl and in the year 2000 a 50 year old man was viciously stabbed whilst walking through the overgrown gardens.















 





















 





















 

 











As always, thanks for looking!​


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## abel101 (Jul 23, 2012)

brilliant shots here!
I will one day visit this place, before its all gone! 
love the second picture the most! top stuff!


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## prettyvacant71 (Jul 23, 2012)

Some great shots mate!! good mix of wangle and detailed, i like 

the more i see of this place the more i wanna go before its gone....betta hurry i think


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## Wakey Lad (Jul 23, 2012)

Cheers folks - If you do go, beware the floors are a death trap!


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## bigtip (Jul 23, 2012)

*nice*

great pictures time has taken its toll there thanks for post.


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## urban phantom (Jul 23, 2012)

nice love the double window shot lots of peely paint


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## steve2109 (Jul 23, 2012)

awesome report and pictures, thanks for sharing


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## _Nyx_ (Jul 23, 2012)

Very nice report & photos


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## sonyes (Jul 23, 2012)

Beautiful pics!!!!! love this place. Thanks for sharing.


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## flyboys90 (Jul 23, 2012)

Scarey history,excellent photos.


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## GEMTX (Jul 23, 2012)

:/............................................


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## Jumpin' Jax (Jul 23, 2012)

Stunning place - absolutely fantastic pics..v atmospheric - thank you for sharing


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## Silent Hill (Jul 23, 2012)

Top report mate, and some belting shots of the old girl


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## Moonfish (Jul 23, 2012)

Good pics and thanks for the interesting although chilling history


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## 0xygen (Jul 23, 2012)

Nice! Definitely one of my favourate asylums. It's nice to see the main hall is still relatively in a good state


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## ImmortalShadow (Jul 24, 2012)

Very nice! Awesome photos and write-up, will definitely have to visit before it's completely gone.

This place has been on my "to do" list for ages now!


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## a_little_feisty (Jul 24, 2012)

Fab report and pics


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## TeeJF (Jul 24, 2012)

I didn't know about the stabbing or the incident in the new unit. Well done.

Just an aside... did you "pose" that cup in that corridor deivider window sill? I posed one exactly the same for a shot the best part of 12 months ago now. Wondering if it's just sat there ever since.


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## Wakey Lad (Jul 24, 2012)

TeeJF said:


> I didn't know about the stabbing or the incident in the new unit. Well done.
> 
> Just an aside... did you "pose" that cup in that corridor deivider window sill? I posed one exactly the same for a shot the best part of 12 months ago now. Wondering if it's just sat there ever since.



The cup was already there, so thought what the hell, a photo of a pretty aslylum cup wont go a miss on a day like today lol..........


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## TeeJF (Jul 24, 2012)

Wakey Lad said:


> The cup was already there, so thought what the hell, a photo of a pretty aslylum cup wont go a miss on a day like today lol..........



Ha ha! Nice to think it's probably the same one then!

M


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## ravenwing93 (Jul 24, 2012)

TeeJF said:


> Ha ha! Nice to think it's probably the same one then!
> 
> M



I've also got the same photo 

Nice work, always enjoy seeing more Whittingham!


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## WarlockUK (Jul 27, 2012)

Really, really nice pics there - thanks for sharing.


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