Had this one on my list to do for a while and decided to take a look. Not seen a report for a while and was unsure if it was still standing. Upon arrival we were happy to see it still standing but not so happy to see travellers living there !! Undetered we traversed the perimeter avoiding the vests,trousers and pants hanging on a make shift washing line. we eventually found a way through the barbed wire fence, well i say we, my daughter got through with me holding it up for her but then decided its more important to answer a BBM than hold it for me as i got caught and gashed my leg !
We made our way inside and discovered a building in a worse state than St Johns at Lincoln. It has been totally trashed inside both up and downstairs and became quite dangerous in places. Trying to walk around silently is difficult due to glass everywhere, holes in floors and most of the walls lying on the floor but mostly due to my daughters phone deciding to blast out rock music for no apparent reason ! We then had an attack of the giggles and decided to leave !
All in all was a good explore and worth a look if you are in the area, just be careful.
A brief History then the pics
Hales Hospital was built by John Harris of Ipswich in 1764 as a workhouse, the Heckingham House of Industry, for up to 400 inmates at Hales. The large H-shaped building contained 83 "apartments" and included an infirmary and a house of correction. In 1766, a pest house for up to 20 "persons afflicted with the small pox or other infectious disorders" was erected at the east of the workhouse.
By 1835, the Heckingham workhouse housed 450 paupers and had gained a reputation as being the most disorderly, inefficient and corrupt of the Norfolk Hundred workhouses. In 1836, however, a group of male inmates rioted and pulled down one of the new walls and in April of the same year the workhouse was set on fire.
In 1933 the Norfolk County Council purchased the property for use as accommodation for 120 female and 56 male patients, in compliance with the Mental Deficiency Act of 1927 which required institutional care for “mental defectives”. For the following 20 years it was known as the Heckingham Institution, changing its name in 1953 to Hales Hospital until it finally closed in 1990.
We made our way inside and discovered a building in a worse state than St Johns at Lincoln. It has been totally trashed inside both up and downstairs and became quite dangerous in places. Trying to walk around silently is difficult due to glass everywhere, holes in floors and most of the walls lying on the floor but mostly due to my daughters phone deciding to blast out rock music for no apparent reason ! We then had an attack of the giggles and decided to leave !
All in all was a good explore and worth a look if you are in the area, just be careful.
A brief History then the pics
Hales Hospital was built by John Harris of Ipswich in 1764 as a workhouse, the Heckingham House of Industry, for up to 400 inmates at Hales. The large H-shaped building contained 83 "apartments" and included an infirmary and a house of correction. In 1766, a pest house for up to 20 "persons afflicted with the small pox or other infectious disorders" was erected at the east of the workhouse.
By 1835, the Heckingham workhouse housed 450 paupers and had gained a reputation as being the most disorderly, inefficient and corrupt of the Norfolk Hundred workhouses. In 1836, however, a group of male inmates rioted and pulled down one of the new walls and in April of the same year the workhouse was set on fire.
In 1933 the Norfolk County Council purchased the property for use as accommodation for 120 female and 56 male patients, in compliance with the Mental Deficiency Act of 1927 which required institutional care for “mental defectives”. For the following 20 years it was known as the Heckingham Institution, changing its name in 1953 to Hales Hospital until it finally closed in 1990.
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