A forgotten house... in the Cotswolds

[neill]

A forgotten house, lived in by a forgotten person, in the heart of Gloucestershire


This house is in busy housing estate, full of neatly kept houses and their neatly kept lawns, with polished cars on the drives... all except this one. I found this house an unbelievably sad place. As if the person who had lived here for years and years, had just stepped out. With his coat over the back of the chair and flat cap on the table. The truth is he had died nearly a year ago. Nothing has been touched in the house since his death. I was let in by a local person who is involved with the disposal of the property, what is going to happen next with this sad house. Sorry about the very poor pictures, but I only had 5 minutes to capture what I saw...

Thanks for looking!

N.

 

[muppet]

so much stuff left behind good find thank for the post

 

[mookster]

Really sad

Makes you wonder how many places there are like this dotted around the country. I always find whenever I'm in these sort of places I'm so much more careful in them than other locations as at the end of the day you are in someone's house, going through their stuff and it's fundamentally different to a massive industrial site or suchlike. I've been in a few now and each has a different feel to it for me, anyway.

 

[Menzo1982]

wow thats amazing

 

[UE-OMJ]

So much left - I wonder what the story was. Great report, cheers.

 

[shot_in_the_dark]

lovely stuff, although sad. thanks for sharing

 

[skankypants]

Great stuff!

 

[shatners]

Kim and Aggie would shit a brick in that place

Nicely captured mate, liking the internal ivy display.

 

[Dirus_Strictus]

Even the most cursory of searches, amongst your local records of deaths and grants of probate, will reveal that most large towns and cities have annual numbers approaching double figures. The majority do not follow the circumstances of this example - most will have lived in rented accommodation, either private or council, thus any belongings left behind will have been cleared out sharpish and stored. For a seemingly lone person owning their dwelling who dies intestate, it can take much longer than twelve months to sort things out to finality. Any surviving relatives have to be searched for and all monies gathered in - all the while the property remaining uninhabited and under lock and key. However, property left empty under the aforesaid circumstances is neither derelict nor abandoned - that only comes about when some sad individuals from our modern society decide to kick in the front door and vandalise the place.

There is nothing special about this property. Any older person who is fortunate enough not to have to live out of a suitcase has a collection of similar things around them, I certainly do. The objects are the accumulation of a life lived for 70 or 80 odd years, memories to be passed on - if one is so blessed, otherwise the contents of the house clearance auction or skip. Learn from the sadness here, just make sure those images aren't a reflection of your own demise

 

[Simon_sanigar]

Thanks for sharing, shame to see what was once some body's house been left to rot

 

[Wakey Lad]

This place is what exploration is all about - Top banana :notworthy:

 

[neill]

Even the most cursory of searches, amongst your local records of deaths and grants of probate, will reveal that most large towns and cities have annual numbers approaching double figures. The majority do not follow the circumstances of this example - most will have lived in rented accommodation, either private or council, thus any belongings left behind will have been cleared out sharpish and stored. For a seemingly lone person owning their dwelling who dies intestate, it can take much longer than twelve months to sort things out to finality. Any surviving relatives have to be searched for and all monies gathered in - all the while the property remaining uninhabited and under lock and key. However, property left empty under the aforesaid circumstances is neither derelict nor abandoned - that only comes about when some sad individuals from our modern society decide to kick in the front door and vandalise the place.

There is nothing special about this property. Any older person who is fortunate enough not to have to live out of a suitcase has a collection of similar things around them, I certainly do. The objects are the accumulation of a life lived for 70 or 80 odd years, memories to be passed on - if one is so blessed, otherwise the contents of the house clearance auction or skip. Learn from the sadness here, just make sure those images aren't a reflection of your own demise

I agree with much of what has been said by Dirus Strictus. I also know more of what happened at this house...I felt so sad because the local neighbourhood and the man's family could turn their backs on someone alone, and in their later years. Something for us all to maybe think about when we see these places.

N.

 

[Fraz13]

Looks like my current house, When I got it it had been locked up tight for almost 3 years since the previous owner died, still full of the ladys stuff, nothing had been removed at all, that was my first job. I have plenty of before and after pics that I always thought about sharing because it was basically derelict and unloved or cared far.Its sad when people die and the familys are lost in what to do with the place, time goes on and its somehow put to the back of their minds and blanked out.

 

[TeeJF]

Good grief, an intact time capsule in the UK? Practically unheard of. Well done.

 

[Lucky Pants]

nice shots and find

 

[moorebag]

great find and great photos.