Southern odyssey Pt. 2 - Barnados Baby Castle - image intensive!

We had a right good mooch about 'darn sarf ;last week including Lillesden Girl's School and Dunloe Lodge but here is our take on the Baby Castle at Hawkshurst in Kent. I won't bother with the history much except to say that this building was constructed in 1886 as an orphange for babies, particularly for disabled baby boys who were very hard to place in foster homes at that time. It ceased to operate as an orphange in 1965 when it was sold off and turned into an old people's care home, then finally it closed it's doors around 2005, and was sold off to a developer for £1.7 million. Plans were submitted and apparently approved for conversion of the home into the inevitable luxury flats, and equally inevitably this listing buildings sits there rotting now (2011) and I suspect nothing will be done to it until it falls down.

We were rather sickened to find OAP's recordas and even a death certificate in one of the out buildings so it's not just the NHS who are careless with confidential records.

Although this site has been done to death countless times before hopefully there will be one of two pictures here you'll enjoy.

It looks like a very surreal and melancholy place. Thanks for your take on it.

yes a bit of sad one, but nice find

Loved this one too thanku

Great thread!!


Very sad though