# Cherry Knowles Lunatic Asylum (Laurels), September 2011.



## Black (Jul 24, 2012)

The Laurels was designed by asylum architect George Thomas Hine 1842-1916,
the foundation stone was laid by Ald Stansfield Richardson in 1893 and opened in 1895. 
The site covers 47 hectares of land,
the buildings are a compact arrow echelon plan projecting symmetrically east and west from a central location (hall and chapel).
The roofs are tile and the walls are red brick, Some minor extensions and one major extension at the west end opened in the 1930s. 
The Laurels was grade 2 listed then delisted, and closed in 1998.
The land is owned by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and the Laurels was demolished between March 2011-October 2011,
it hurts me to witness such grand buildings been demolished to make way for lego land housing estates.
The Buildings were in a poor way due to damage and destruction or neglect, 
Since 2008 a 7 foot palisade fence has been erected and security put on.
Nothing remains

welcome to






Facade east





chapel/hall





west





building east





west





1930s extension east





west





east





middle





west





1930s extension





hall





chapel





stained glass





corridor from 1930s extension





corridor to 1930s extension





subterranean steam tunnels
entrance/exit





steps





north





south





east










west










1930s extension east





west





isolation





demolition





[email protected]


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## 0xygen (Jul 24, 2012)

Did you come across any of my empty lager cans in the service tunnels by any chance? ;-)


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## flyboys90 (Jul 24, 2012)

Huge complex,thanks for sharing.


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## bigtip (Jul 24, 2012)

*Nice*

Huge site looks good some nice pictures thanks for posting.


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## UE-OMJ (Jul 24, 2012)

Looks like a fun explore


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## sonyes (Jul 24, 2012)

Nicely done!! Looks a good place, thanks.


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## Silent Hill (Jul 24, 2012)

There seems to be a little activity in them there tunnels


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## UrbanX (Jul 24, 2012)

Whoa, not seen anything from here for ages! Nicely done! 
I wonder if you'll spark a resurgence for the place, like Sevs became fashionable again this summer  
Fantastic in depth report, hooked from start to finish!


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## Black (Jul 24, 2012)

UrbanX said:


> I wonder if you'll spark a resurgence for the place, like Sevs became fashionable again this summer



nothing but empty land, demolished last year.


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## UrbanX (Jul 24, 2012)

Ah did not know that!  
#unpacks camera bag and goes back to bed#


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## Tig007 (Jul 25, 2012)

great set, the large rooms are worth the trip alone. shame to see demolition tho. Well done


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## strider8173 (Jul 25, 2012)

why do these people allways tear down the hospitals!!! theres 1000s of other things they can demolish...like woking. 
leave the hospitals for us.

i went down to stonehouse the other day and it was bloody fancy apartments and that one in kingston...twats


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## krela (Jul 25, 2012)

No, please get the wrecking ball out asap.


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## TeeJF (Jul 25, 2012)

UrbanX said:


> I wonder if you'll spark a resurgence for the place



It wouldn't be a good idea to spark a resurgence bud, we were there last year in June and there was less standing than on these photos so I'm intrigued to know how old they are.


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## _Nyx_ (Jul 25, 2012)

Great report & photos, thanks for sharing


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## Black (Jul 26, 2012)

TeeJF said:


> It wouldn't be a good idea to spark a resurgence bud, we were there last year in June and there was less standing than on these photos so I'm intrigued to know how old they are.



The pictures were taken between June and September 2011,
last picture (demolition) was taken on June 8th 2011.


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## TeeJF (Jul 26, 2012)

Black said:


> The pictures were taken between June and September 2011,
> last picture (demolition) was taken on June 8th 2011.



Thanks mate. So they were just after we had been up then? You may want to compare our pix, it's quite interesting to see the progress of demo. You were very lucky to view the chapel and theatre with a proper floor because when we went that had begun to be lifted!

http://www.jarrelook.co.uk/Urbex/Cherry%20Knowle%20Asylum/Cherry_Knowle.htm


What a difference a day makes in this game!


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## Miss.Anthrope (Jul 27, 2012)

good pics 

one thing ive never understood completely un urbexing related, why do they cover pipes in chicken wire......clueless.....


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## LulaTaHula (Aug 5, 2012)

I'm so sad that I didn't get the chance to see Cherry Knowle. An unseen Hine! :'(


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## SeffyboyUK (Aug 5, 2012)

LulaTaHula said:


> I'm so sad that I didn't get the chance to see Cherry Knowle. An unseen Hine! :'(



I second that!


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## chapmand (Sep 8, 2012)

wish this place was still standing, it was one that i wanted to visit but never got round to it


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## the_man_1984 (Sep 8, 2012)

This must have been great to nose around. Thanks for posting.


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