This is, somewhat morbidly, the second house I have now explored with cremated human remains in-situ.
I was tipped off about this place by a friend of mine so decided to give it a look. It's well hidden off a main road, so well in fact that if you didn't know it was there you'd simply speed right on past it. The house is absolutely rammed full of stuff, the lifes work of a hoarder. A sea of clothing, hundreds of books, boxes filled with all the paperwork the family ever owned and, of course, the all too familiar stacks of newspaper. I counted no fewer than eight TVs scattered through various rooms as well as four stoves/cookers, and the kitchen/pantry had more canned food items in it than I had ever seen before. We even found the original deeds to the land the house was built on stashed in a box amongst family photos and other possessions.
As we sifted (I don't like the term 'rummaged') through the belongings in various rooms a confusing picture of the history of the house/family who lived there slowly became apparent. The house was built in 1920 and looks to have been lived in by the original family ever since. One of the family members was employed by British Airways and there were Christmas cards sent from relatives in America and various small American items in the house - whether this ties in with his employment I'm not certain. Other members of the family would appear to have been involved in the farming industry. Freda, the last apparent resident, passed away in the mid 90s and it's her little ashes casket which sits on an upstairs window sill. The pair of vans outside were last taxed in 1991 and 1993, which also ties in with many of the dates on foodstuffs and letters and all sorts. However there were a few seemingly 'out of place' items including post/letters and newspapers from 2004, and canned food that only expired in 2010 (ten year shelf life?). So whether the house was still occupied in some way up to that point, I do not know.
Overall it was a very peaceful place to explore, I didn't feel any sort of sadness or indeed a feeling of anything really in the house. A lot of the house is shrouded in near darkness which did make shooting it a chore - and I, of course, managed to forget my 30mm prime lens.
Thanks for looking
I was tipped off about this place by a friend of mine so decided to give it a look. It's well hidden off a main road, so well in fact that if you didn't know it was there you'd simply speed right on past it. The house is absolutely rammed full of stuff, the lifes work of a hoarder. A sea of clothing, hundreds of books, boxes filled with all the paperwork the family ever owned and, of course, the all too familiar stacks of newspaper. I counted no fewer than eight TVs scattered through various rooms as well as four stoves/cookers, and the kitchen/pantry had more canned food items in it than I had ever seen before. We even found the original deeds to the land the house was built on stashed in a box amongst family photos and other possessions.
As we sifted (I don't like the term 'rummaged') through the belongings in various rooms a confusing picture of the history of the house/family who lived there slowly became apparent. The house was built in 1920 and looks to have been lived in by the original family ever since. One of the family members was employed by British Airways and there were Christmas cards sent from relatives in America and various small American items in the house - whether this ties in with his employment I'm not certain. Other members of the family would appear to have been involved in the farming industry. Freda, the last apparent resident, passed away in the mid 90s and it's her little ashes casket which sits on an upstairs window sill. The pair of vans outside were last taxed in 1991 and 1993, which also ties in with many of the dates on foodstuffs and letters and all sorts. However there were a few seemingly 'out of place' items including post/letters and newspapers from 2004, and canned food that only expired in 2010 (ten year shelf life?). So whether the house was still occupied in some way up to that point, I do not know.
Overall it was a very peaceful place to explore, I didn't feel any sort of sadness or indeed a feeling of anything really in the house. A lot of the house is shrouded in near darkness which did make shooting it a chore - and I, of course, managed to forget my 30mm prime lens.
Thanks for looking
