Lansdowne Hospital, Cardiff
April 2019
Firstly, I would like to say a huge hello to everybody that was on here in the olden days as I'm now calling them! It's been a long time since I've posted but certainly still been around! Day job and family life took over for a while but slowly getting around to clearing a HUGE backlog of locations!
In 2019, we began exploring the 100-year-old Lansdowne Hospital in Cardiff, South Wales.
We quickly made our way beyond the security fencing and into the grounds before looking around for a way into the buildings. Initially, they all appeared to be completely sealed but as we took a closer look, we found a very small gap between wooden boards and like that we were in.
Little did we know at the time but hidden within the trees were remote CCTV cameras with a direct link to the contracted security company and within 30 minutes, we found ourselves playing cat and mouse as we escaped from deep inside Lansdowne Hospital.
After initially gaining entry, our focus was not on taking photographs, but getting a general understanding of the layout and how much of the site we now had access to. This focus however would only prove to backfire against us as the next 30 minutes unfolded and we captured what we could.
As we crept around some of the most abandoned, decaying hallways we’ve ever seen within a recently closed hospital, we heard the banging of the steal gates at the front of the site. Peaking through a crack in the wooden structure, a security van was pulling in, as clear as day.
As the security team pulled in, parked up and began to search the grounds, we knew we had to find a safe exit point and return another time. We quickly headed to our entry point, squeezed through and darted across the ground, using the overgrowth to hide our presence… but with that, one of the team noticed remotely operated CCTV cameras hiding in the trees.
We darted for our exit and safely within the public area of Sanatorium Park before heading back to our vehicle.
We watched on in the distance as the security team searched every inch of the grounds before leaving but a second attempt to bypass the cameras and get back onto the site had them returning just as quick. Leaving once again, we began to study the ground layouts, access points and developed a plan to get in fully un-noticed.
It was planned to return just 48 hours later…
The evening before our planned return was due, our editorial tip line went off, alerting us to the devastating news that Lansdowne Hospital was currently well ablaze and looked like it would be completely destroyed. We headed straight down with everything crossed that this information was wrong. Unfortunately though, it was far from it.
What wasn’t destroyed by the main fire, was destroyed by South Wales Fire & Rescue Service flooding the entire site in order to contain or extinguish the fire. As day light rose the next day, there was a heavy security presence on site with a security dog patrolling and more CCTV than you could shake a stick at making any visit, impossible.
We were never going to post our photographs of this particular location, but after a second look, we’ve decided to share them in order to preserve the history we were able to capture.
Lansdowne Hospital was built in 1895 and was originally known as the City Isolation Hospital and later known as Cardiff Sanatorium. In its later years, it was mainly used for community health care services before being moved to more appropriate facilities.
The former doctors house was later used as the Health Visiting Service office before the site was sold to developers for around £2million. The site will shortly have more than 100 homes built on the historic grounds.
Thank you for looking, as always, our full report is available on our website!
View Full Location Report Here!
April 2019
Firstly, I would like to say a huge hello to everybody that was on here in the olden days as I'm now calling them! It's been a long time since I've posted but certainly still been around! Day job and family life took over for a while but slowly getting around to clearing a HUGE backlog of locations!
In 2019, we began exploring the 100-year-old Lansdowne Hospital in Cardiff, South Wales.
We quickly made our way beyond the security fencing and into the grounds before looking around for a way into the buildings. Initially, they all appeared to be completely sealed but as we took a closer look, we found a very small gap between wooden boards and like that we were in.
Little did we know at the time but hidden within the trees were remote CCTV cameras with a direct link to the contracted security company and within 30 minutes, we found ourselves playing cat and mouse as we escaped from deep inside Lansdowne Hospital.
After initially gaining entry, our focus was not on taking photographs, but getting a general understanding of the layout and how much of the site we now had access to. This focus however would only prove to backfire against us as the next 30 minutes unfolded and we captured what we could.
As we crept around some of the most abandoned, decaying hallways we’ve ever seen within a recently closed hospital, we heard the banging of the steal gates at the front of the site. Peaking through a crack in the wooden structure, a security van was pulling in, as clear as day.
As the security team pulled in, parked up and began to search the grounds, we knew we had to find a safe exit point and return another time. We quickly headed to our entry point, squeezed through and darted across the ground, using the overgrowth to hide our presence… but with that, one of the team noticed remotely operated CCTV cameras hiding in the trees.
We darted for our exit and safely within the public area of Sanatorium Park before heading back to our vehicle.
We watched on in the distance as the security team searched every inch of the grounds before leaving but a second attempt to bypass the cameras and get back onto the site had them returning just as quick. Leaving once again, we began to study the ground layouts, access points and developed a plan to get in fully un-noticed.
It was planned to return just 48 hours later…
The evening before our planned return was due, our editorial tip line went off, alerting us to the devastating news that Lansdowne Hospital was currently well ablaze and looked like it would be completely destroyed. We headed straight down with everything crossed that this information was wrong. Unfortunately though, it was far from it.
What wasn’t destroyed by the main fire, was destroyed by South Wales Fire & Rescue Service flooding the entire site in order to contain or extinguish the fire. As day light rose the next day, there was a heavy security presence on site with a security dog patrolling and more CCTV than you could shake a stick at making any visit, impossible.
We were never going to post our photographs of this particular location, but after a second look, we’ve decided to share them in order to preserve the history we were able to capture.
Lansdowne Hospital was built in 1895 and was originally known as the City Isolation Hospital and later known as Cardiff Sanatorium. In its later years, it was mainly used for community health care services before being moved to more appropriate facilities.
The former doctors house was later used as the Health Visiting Service office before the site was sold to developers for around £2million. The site will shortly have more than 100 homes built on the historic grounds.
Thank you for looking, as always, our full report is available on our website!
View Full Location Report Here!
Pics were taken in 2019.
